Gay in st lucia

Saint Lucia, a beautiful Caribbean island nation, has a mixed history regarding LGBT rights, with ongoing challenges faced by the local LGBT community. Same-sex sexual activity between men remains illegal, punishable with a year prison sentence or a fine. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in Saint Lucia face legal challenges not experienced by non- LGBTQ members of the population.

Same-sex sexual activity is illegal for males, though the law is not enforced. LGBT Rights in Saint Lucia: homosexuality, gay marriage, gay adoption, serving in the military, sexual orientation discrimination protection, changing legal gender, donating blood, age of consent, and more. Now, St. Lucia has changed the landscape with the region’s most inclusive provisions to date.

The scope of persons who can access legal protection has been expanded to include same-sex relationships. Terms like domestic relationships, spouse, cohabitant, visiting relationship, applicant and respondent are all defined in a gender-neutral way. Any thoughtful research or understanding of LGBT life in Saint Lucia is clouded over by the May beating and robbery of three gay men by five armed homophobic and violent local thugs.

Bradley Desir admits it may seem like a stretch for the island but it nevertheless would serve as a major example for many Caribbean nations and be a milestone that would be welcomed by the gay tourism industry. However, with St. Lucia fully embraces one of the biggest markets in the world by repealing the anti-LGBTQ laws and promoting itself as a gay tourism destination.

Desir is optimistic based on recent changes around the world and on the island. Desir believes a market geared toward gay tourists would be the epitome of love and romance and would signify that the island would be more inclusive of diversity. While the laws against same-sex activity on the island are not enforced.

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Desir says that the gay community is still discriminated against simply because it exists. He also highlighted experiences where he was discriminated against for being homosexual on the island. He pointed out that was the main reason he ultimately left St. Lucia and immigrated to Canada. I spent six years working in the financial sector and I found it was a burden when anyone found out that I was gay.

Desir adds that while he was never physically attacked for being gay, he was subject to constant verbal abuse. He believes that not being openly gay on the island may have helped prevent any possible attacks. Despite these ugly truths, Desir is optimistic that the island has changed significantly. After a visit to the island in , about 6 years after he immigrated to Canada, he noted that the country had become more accepting of gays.

Desir says there has been a greater level of tolerance and that people seem to be more open-minded. Desir is hoping that more grounded changes can be made and that the island follows in the footsteps of Barbados. In December, a milestone judgment was made there when the high court issued an oral ruling that decriminalized same-sex relations. Barbados had become the third Eastern Caribbean Island to strike down its laws against gays.

A decision is pending on the constitutional challenge in Saint Lucia. Desir is optimistic that the law will be struck down. He urges the government to consider something different in the ever-increasing competitive world of tourism.

According to a U. Sarah Peter is a journalist from Saint Lucia. The former United Nations Journalist Fellow and foreign Correspondent for Reuters has an intense passion for human rights and climate change reporting. Sarah has done foreign reporting all over the world including in Paris, Switzerland, London and New York but most of her reporting has been based in the Caribbean, where she is the brainchild of a human rights TV documentary series, OFF Limits and the Global Forum, an initiative aimed at bridging international gaps.

Department of State. But her greatest achievement is creating initiatives to impact social change and policy.