SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The top court for nine eastern Caribbean nations and territories has struck down a colonial-era law against homosexual conduct in St. Kitts and Nevis, ruling that sexual orientation is covered by the right to privacy. LGBTQ activists celebrated the ruling issued Tuesday by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, noting that gay people on the twin-island nation have tended to avoid medical care for fear of losing their job, being assaulted or being prosecuted or stigmatized by health care providers and the government. The nonprofit St. Kitts & Nevis Alliance for Equality and Jamal Jeffers, a gay man, had sued the small country’s attorney general, arguing that the right to liberty allows people to choose an intimate partner and have consensual sex with whomever and however they want. They also argued that the right to privacy in the local constitution is not limited to protection against unlawful searches. The St. Lucia-based court found in their favor, with High Court Judge Trevor Ward writing that the sections of the 1873 law dealing with sodomy impinge “upon the claimants’ right to determine the way they, as individuals, choose to express their sexuality in private with another […]
