Following the dismissal of a case against St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ buggery and gross indecency law brought by two LGBT Vincentians by the nation’s high court, International Human Rights Lawyer Jeshua Bardoo, has said that these laws embolden persons to feel justified in discriminating against those in the LGBT community
Mr. Bardoo was at the time appearing as a guest on WE FM’s Activated Mornings program, where he highlighted the human rights aspect of the law’s existence, saying that the law violates human rights.
“These laws violate people’s human rights and basic dignity, you do not deserve to be criminalized because of how you sexually express yourself and even if you’re not sexually performing an act people still discriminate against you because they might perceive you to be or not be something, whether is gay, bi, or lesbian or whatever, even if you’re not doing the act, he people in St. Vincent discriminate against you. These laws perpetuate prejudice, they act as social sanctions, and they embolden people to feel justified in discriminating against LGBTQIA+ individuals and they are in violation of human rights,” Mr. Bardoo said.
Justice Esco Henry in her ruling said that the men had no legal standing to bring the claims, due to the fact that they live overseas and do not live in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Justice Henry also dismissed their argument that they had been forced to leave the country because of their sexual orientation, as well as upheld the government’s argument that the laws are reasonably required for public health and morality.