Activist wins 10-year fight against homophobic Trinidad and Tobago laws

A decade-long legal battle

Jason Jones, a gay activist, has fought Trinidad and Tobago's colonial-era buggery laws for ten years. In 2018, a high court judge ruled the laws unconstitutional, but the government appealed and won in 2025.

Privy council overturns recriminalisation

On Tuesday, the privy council in London unanimously overturned the 2025 decision, ruling that sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act 1986 cannot criminalise private, consensual sexual relations between same-sex adults.

The court's reasoning

The privy council said the ability to form a deep connection with another person through an intimate and loving relationship is a vital interest for all human beings.

“The ability to form a deep connection with another person through an intimate and loving relationship is a vital interest for all human beings.”

Ripple effects across the Caribbean

The privy council is the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago and several other Commonwealth countries.

“This judgment will have a domino effect across every country that has the privy council as its supreme court. It will change many millions of people's lives.”

Jones will not return home

Despite the victory, Jones, who has lived in London for several decades, said he will not feel comfortable living in Trinidad again. He warned that liberation movements face pushback every time they move forward.

“The thing about liberation movements is every time you move the needle forward, you get the pushback.”