{"id":76925,"date":"2019-11-04T10:21:56","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T14:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=76925"},"modified":"2019-11-04T10:25:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T14:25:41","slug":"group-to-challenge-anti-gay-laws-in-dominica-oecs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/group-to-challenge-anti-gay-laws-in-dominica-oecs\/","title":{"rendered":"Group To Challenge Anti-Gay Laws In Antigua, OECS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), today announced the launch of five legal challenges to the remnants of draconian laws of our colonial past. The claims, all expected to be filed before the end of 2019, will challenge the buggery and indecency laws in Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Saint Lucia.<\/p>

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Executive Director of ECADE, Kenita Placide said, \u201cthis is four years in the making. While the process of litigation is important, the main part of this journey was to strengthen the organisations and the communities within the countries they serve. We also needed to understand how these laws contribute to the stigmatisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people, how they legitimise hate speech, discrimination and violence and tear at the heart of the family that our society, including our governments, have sworn to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The intention to file these cases challenging the constitutionality of the buggery and indecency laws is the result of a process which commenced with a meeting organised by United and Strong of Saint Lucia and GrenCHAP of Grenada in 2015. Organisations representing LGBTQI people and other marginalised groups from seven islands in the eastern Caribbean came together for the first time, shared experiences and strategies, and created the regional advocacy hub that is ECADE.<\/p>

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Adult, consensual, same-sex intimacy is criminalised in nine Caribbean countries, all of which are members of the Commonwealth. Discriminatory Penal Codes on the islands date back to the British colonial era, and unfairly target LGBT people. Although custodial sentences are rarely imposed, those convicted under these laws can face sentences ranging from ten years to life imprisonment.<\/p>

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Executive Director of ECADE, Kenita Placide said, \u201cthis is four years in the making. While the process of litigation is important, the main part of this journey was to strengthen the organisations and the communities within the countries they serve. We also needed to understand how these laws contribute to the stigmatisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people, how they legitimise hate speech, discrimination and violence and tear at the heart of the family that our society, including our governments, have sworn to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filed by ECADE on behalf of member organisations and citizens who are affected by these discriminatory laws, these cases follow the four-year process developed at the Grenada meeting. ECADE has worked closely with our regional and international partners to support litigants in the cases.<\/p>

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The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), today announced the launch of five legal challenges to the remnants of draconian laws of our colonial past. The claims, all expected to be filed before the end of 2019, will challenge the buggery and indecency laws in Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGroup To Challenge Anti-Gay Laws In Antigua, OECS - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/group-to-challenge-anti-gay-laws-in-dominica-oecs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Group To Challenge Anti-Gay Laws In Antigua, OECS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), today announced the launch of five legal challenges to the remnants of draconian laws of our colonial past. 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