Jamaican government wants to constitutionally protect anti-gay laws
Meanwhile, the NATO summit shows progress on Euro-integration
Jamaica is in the process of amending its constitution with a view to dumping its ties to the monarchy and becoming a republic, but the government is trying to assuage fears that it will somehow expand LGBT rights and abortion rights in the process. The controversy stems from the “savings clause” in the current constitution, which protects laws that existed during the British colonial era – like the country’s sodomy laws – from being challenged as unconstitutional. Some would like to see the clause scrapped because it prevents human rights challenges and is an even more oppressive relic of the colonial era than having some English guy on the back of the money.
In the meantime, a court challenge to the sodomy law is already underway, and last month, the court held hearings to determine whether or not the law is protected by the savings clause at all. A big chunk of the case rests on the fact that the current sodomy law has been amended several times since independence, so petitioners say the savings doesn’t apply. So, it’s theoretically possible that the government could protect the savings clause and still be forced to repeal the sodomy law anyway.
The Interamerican Court of Human rights has already ruled that Jamaica’s sodomy laws violate the Interamerican Convention on Human Rights, but the Court is toothless to compel the government to repeal them.
By the way, basically all of the remaining Commonwealth Realms in the Caribbean region1 are considering dumping the monarchy in the wake of King Charles III’s accession and Barbados’ successful transition to a republic last year.
Activists in Antigua and Barbuda are calling for increased police training on dealing with gender-based violence directed at the LGBTQ community, one year after that country’s courts decriminalized sodomy.
I wrote about where each of the former British colonies in the Caribbean region are regarding repeal of colonial-era sodomy laws last year for Xtra Magazine.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic…
One of the reasons legislative news is a little slow right now is that many legislatures are on summer break, or their leaders are doing the international summit circuit. At the current NATO summit, it appears that leaders have broken an impasse over Turkish objections to Sweden joining the defense alliance, in return for Sweden supporting Turkiye’s2 bid to join the European Union. (Hungary has dropped its objection, too.) Leaders have also agreed to drop one of the requirements for Ukraine to eventually join NATO – although leaders are saying that won’t happen until after the war with Russia is over.
I’ve written before that although this stuff appears to be above the pay grade of the LGBT news blogger, the process of European/transatlantic integration has been an important force for the advancement of queer rights in the region, and this is of a piece with that. We’ve actually already seen it play out in Ukraine, with the government there barring anti-LGBT discrimination in employment and broadcasting, and considering recognizing same-sex relationships, all in support of its bid for deeper ties with the EU.
Shoring up defenses through NATO will also help ensure that Russia doesn’t come after LGBT people in Eastern Europe, as Ukrainian queer people might tell you.
And while Turkiye has a long way to go to get approval for EU membership, if the government is serious about joining, it will have to improve the legal rights of its LGBT people as well (to say nothing about the deteriorating civil rights environment in Turkiye in general).
On a related note, Serbia’s Economy Minister was dismissed from his portfolio and party after suggesting that the country should join Europe’s sanctions on Russia to help stop the war in Ukraine. He’s since formed his own party, which will contest the next elections with a pro-European platform. Those next elections are currently scheduled for 2026, but may come sooner if mass protests, which have rocked major cities across Serbia since May, succeed in their demands to force the government to resign. Serbia’s lesbian prime minister Ana Brnabic3 has already offered to resign, but has not actually left office. Serbia has applied for EU membership.
And a Bulgarian former presidential candidate known for far-right, anti-LGBT platforms has been convicted of hooliganism and given six months’ probation for an attack on an LGBT center during the 2021 election.
Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The Turkish government requested that the English spelling of the country be rendered “Türkiye” in May 2022, and I’m happy to accommodate, but I’m not going to go nuts about including umlauts that our language and keyboards aren’t set up to accomodate easily.
I’m omitting foreign diacritics equally today.