Dominica LGBT activist says queer people still aren’t free

 | 
05/24/2024

Dominica’s High Court has struck down the nation’s anti-sodomy law, but homophobia remains pervasive. “The law has changed in Dominica, but it will still take time to change people’s attitudes,” says Daryl Phillip, head of Minority Rights Dominica (MiRiDom). “Before and even now, people allow themselves to treat LGBT people as second-class citizens.” On April 22, the High Court of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States ruled that sections 14 and 16 of the Dominica Sexual Offences Act, which sentenced people in same-sex relationships to 10 years’ imprisonment, were unconstitutional and void. In particular, the judges found that these laws clearly infringed the rights to privacy, liberty, and security, as well as protection against discrimination.

Regions:

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 11/05/2024
11/04/2024
As anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and hate crimes continue to rise, GLAAD CEO and president Sarah Kate Ellis talks with NBC News’ Savannah Sellers about the …
Added on: 11/04/2024
11/03/2024
The West African nation of Mali, which has been ruled by a military junta for more than three years, has voted for a new …
Added on: 11/04/2024
11/03/2024
On 22 October, Chinese host and dancer Jin Xing sparked an online uproar with a lengthy post on Weibo charging that her performance application …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from

Added on: 04/23/2024
The High Court of the Caribbean island nation of Dominica has ruled that Dominica’s law against consensual same-sex intimacy is unconstitutional. The judgement against …
Added on: 01/02/2024
Latin American and the Caribbean didn’t see quite the dynamic changes that came in 2022, when three countries decriminalized gay sex and one legalized …
Added on: 10/19/2023
Legal challenges to anti-LGBTQ laws are under way in Africa and in the Caribbean. In the map above, which shows the 66 nations with …