Privy Council overturns Trinidad and Tobago gay-sex ban

Trinidad and Tobago’s law criminalizing consensual sex between men was ruled unconstitutional by the London-based Privy Council, the country’s highest court of appeal. The decision followed a challenge by Jason Jones, an LGBTQ+ rights activist who argued the law violated his constitutional rights; it reverses the outcome of an appeal that had overturned an earlier ruling in his favor. The colonial-era law had allowed prison sentences for same-sex acts. Although the judgment applies only to Trinidad and Tobago, advocates and legal experts say it could encourage challenges to similar laws in other former British colonies.