# Privy Council restores ruling against Trinidad and Tobago same-sex laws

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/activist-wins-10-year-fight-against-homophobic-trinidad-and-tobago-laws/
- Published: 2026-11-10T17:55:10+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T18:35:00+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/10/activist-jason-jones-wins-10-year-fight-against-homophobic-trinidad-tobago-laws
- Topics: UK, World

## Key points

- The Privy Council reinstated protections for consensual same-sex relations.
- The unanimous ruling ends a decade-long legal fight by Jason Jones.
- The decision could affect other Caribbean countries with similar laws.

## Summary

The Privy Council has restored a ruling that protects consensual same-sex relations between adults in Trinidad and Tobago, overturning a 2025 appeal court decision. The unanimous judgment is a major victory for activist Jason Jones after a decade-long legal fight and could influence other Caribbean countries that use the Privy Council as their final court of appeal.

Jones first won a High Court ruling in 2018, which found colonial-era provisions criminalising consensual anal sex unconstitutional. On Tuesday, all five Privy Council judges said the relevant sections of the 1986 Sexual Offences Act must be read consistently with the constitution, so they do not criminalise private, consensual sex between adults of the same sex. Similar laws remain in force elsewhere in the region, though St Lucia’s courts struck down its ban last year; Jones said he does not yet feel comfortable returning to live in Trinidad.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.