Gays in st lucia
The Honorable Dominic Fedee visited New York this month with his marketing and public relations team to launch a new campaign for St. Lucia and to promise Americans that this lush Caribbean nation was not affected by recent hurricanes. The small country depends on tourism, and he asserts that “The best way to help the Caribbean is to visit the Caribbean.”
In St. Lucia, as in a number of Caribbean countries, same-sex relations between men are illegal though there are no laws against lesbians. We caught up with Minister Fedee to ask him whether LGBTQ visitors are welcome in St. Lucia. The interview, below, is part of a series with senior tourism leaders about LGBTQ travelers, including our recent interview with Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, MP.
Interview with the Honorable Dominic Fedee, Saint Lucia&#;s Minister of Tourism, Information and Broadcasting by Ed Salvato
ManAboutWorld: Sometimes the LGBTQ media cites the Caribbean as an example of a region that is unfriendly or unwelcoming for gay travelers. Would you say LGBTQ traveler are welcome in St. Lucia?
Dominic Fedee: Well, everyone is welcome in St. Lucia. Absolutely. I can tell you there is a compreh
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Last updated: 17 December
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code , which criminalises acts of ‘buggery’ and ‘gross indecency’. These provisions carry a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment. Both men and women are criminalised under this law.
The regulation was inherited from the British during the colonial period, in which the English criminal law was imposed upon Saint Lucia. Despite adopting a brand-new Criminal Code in , Saint Lucia opted to retain the provisions and continues to criminalise lgbtq+ sexual activity today.
There is no evidence of the law being enforced, and it appears to be largely obsolete in apply . Nevertheless, the mere living of this provision is itself a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of discrimination (see further). There hold been some reports of discrimination and violence existence committed against LGBT pe
St. Lucia "Breaks The Bias" With New LGBTIQ-Inclusive Domestic Violence Act
On March 8, St. Lucia’s Parliament passed the landmark Domestic Violence Act, , becoming one of the few countries in the Caribbean to provide legal protections to people in same-sex relationships who trial domestic violence—and the only country in the region to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the implementation of such laws. Lesbian, gay, attracted to both genders, transgender, intersex and gay (LGBTIQ) people whose relationships may fall outside a cisgender, heterosexual norm are now able to access all the resources and remedies provided in the Act, including protection orders from the court.
The Household Violence Act, passed on International Women’s Day, represents a big step forward not just for St. Lucia but for the entire Caribbean. St. Lucia’s Minister for the Universal Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs, Dr. Virginia Poyotte, describes the Act as one of the “most progressive in the region.” The Caribbean saw its “first generation” of domestic violence laws in the early s, which were generally vague and limited in scope. A “
Can We Hold Hands Here?
That gorgeous ad of a couple holding hands on the beach in the lush, mountainous Caribbean nation of St. Lucia? Oh, it looks so kind, honey, let’s book it!
Chances are if that’s the extent of your decision-making process, you are heterosexual. Sight unseen, I guarantee that the couple in the photo is straight—also probably white, blond and under 40, but that’s a different article.
For just about anyone in the lesbian, gay, double attraction, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) community like myself, the ad may have gotten our attention, especially in the dead of winter in New York Urban area, but the decision to visit is much more complex. Will my significant other and I be welcome? Can we hold hands or even just recline together on the beach without attracting unwanted attention? Would we be subject to judgment, eye-rolling, harassment or worse?
LGBTQ people living in St. Lucia encounter legal challenges not experienced by others. Acts of “gross indecency” are punishable by up to ten years imprisonment. While these laws may infrequently be invoked among locals and certainly never against Western visitors—a critical source of revenue—the laws have a chilling effect on the local community an
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