Fighting for LGBTQ decriminalisation in T&T
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In my home country of Trinidad and Tobago, until April 12th of 2018, I could be arrested and imprisoned for up to 25 years for having consensual sex with my male partner. Any sexual intimacy between couples of the same sex was a crime (including sex between women!). My government calls these acts “serious indecency”. They could jail us for up to 25 years for penetrative sex and for 5 years for any other act of sexual intimacy. Gay and Bi men, Lesbian and Bi women, Trans & non binary people, all lived with the threat of this criminal law hanging over them.
My name is Jason Jones and I am a human rights defender.
I challenged my Government in the High Court to change this situation and on April 12th 2018 the Court agreed to declare these laws
unconstitutional, null and void!
WE WON! LOVE WON!
In his ruling on my case Justice Rampersad said: “...it is unfortunate when society in any way values a person or gives a person their identity based on their race, colour, gender, age or sexual orientation. That is not their identity, that is not their soul. That is not the sum total of their value to society or their value to themselves. The experiences of apartheid South Africa and the USA during and after slavery, even into the mid and late 20th century, have shown the depth that human dignity has been plunged as a result of presupposed and predetermined prejudices based on factors that do not accept or recognize humanity.”
The government of Trinidad and Tobago is challenging this verdict and fighting to keep these archaic and discriminatory laws. On October 25th 2023, my legal team and I were again before the Appeal courts to state our case that the High Court ruling should be upheld and this unjust law struck down. I am currently awaiting the judgement from the T&T Appeal Court Justices.
But there's still work left to do to get us there. I still need to raise at least £30,000 for my upcoming appearances in court: for fees, transport and security for me and my lawyers, and the costs I am liable for so that I can continue doing this work for my community. I do all of this LGBTQ+ advocacy independently for free and am not supported by any organisations. Your donation will ensure that 100,000 LGBTQ+ people have their day in Court, so that we can ensure the barbaric laws that criminalise us for being lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans are struck down for good! Thank you! A LUTA CONTINUA!
Jason Jones
Human Rights Defender
In his ruling on my case Justice Rampersad said: “...it is unfortunate when society in any way values a person or gives a person their identity based on their race, colour, gender, age or sexual orientation. That is not their identity, that is not their soul. That is not the sum total of their value to society or their value to themselves. The experiences of apartheid South Africa and the USA during and after slavery, even into the mid and late 20th century, have shown the depth that human dignity has been plunged as a result of presupposed and predetermined prejudices based on factors that do not accept or recognize humanity.”
The government of Trinidad and Tobago is challenging this verdict and fighting to keep these archaic and discriminatory laws. On October 25th 2023, my legal team and I were again before the Appeal courts to state our case that the High Court ruling should be upheld and this unjust law struck down. I am currently awaiting the judgement from the T&T Appeal Court Justices.
But there's still work left to do to get us there. I still need to raise at least £30,000 for my upcoming appearances in court: for fees, transport and security for me and my lawyers, and the costs I am liable for so that I can continue doing this work for my community. I do all of this LGBTQ+ advocacy independently for free and am not supported by any organisations. Your donation will ensure that 100,000 LGBTQ+ people have their day in Court, so that we can ensure the barbaric laws that criminalise us for being lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans are struck down for good! Thank you! A LUTA CONTINUA!
Jason Jones
Human Rights Defender
Organizer
Jason Jones
Organizer
England