Antigua and Barbuda overturn colonial-era law criminalising gay sex

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07/07/2022

A Caribbean court has ruled a colonial-era law in Antigua and Barbuda that criminalizes gay sex is unconstitutional in a landmark win for campaigners. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court found that ‘the selection of an intimate partner is a private and a personal choice.’ The ruling also said the twin-island nation’s 1995 Sexual Offenses Act ‘offends the right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, protection of personal privacy and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex.’ It comes after a gay man who works at Antigua’s Ministry of Health and a local group called Women Against Rape Inc. (WARI) called for the law to be overturned.

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