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Ban on gay sex in St. Kitts & Nevis struck down by EC Supreme Court

BASSTERRE- According to press agency Reuters, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has ruled that a Saint Kitts and Nevis prohibition on gay sex is ‘unconstitutional’, because it violates the right to privacy, striking down one of a handful of bans on same-sex intercourse that still exist in the region.

The ruled against two portions of the Offences Against the Person Act, adopted in the dual-island nation in 1873, which called for up to ten years imprisonment for having or attempting to have gay sex.

“The law’s statutes criminalising gay sex are inconsistent with the constitution and, as such, (are) null and void and of no force and effect,” wrote High Court Judge Trevor M. Ward in a decision dated Aug. 29.

‘Buggery laws’

The suit was brought by Jamal Jeffers, a gay man from the Caribbean nation, and a non-profit organisation called Saint Kitts and Nevis Alliance for Equality.

So-called ‘Buggery laws’ remain on the books in several Caribbean nations, including Jamaica and Barbados. 

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