LGBT activist makes history
■ Anna Ramdass
anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com
TRINIDAD-BORN gay rights activist Jason Jones is carded to speak about his legal battle against laws against homosexuality in Trinidad and Tobago in the Parliament of the United Kingdom today.
'It is an historic moment for me in my 30-year history as an LGBTQ activist and is the first time a gay Caribbean person will be honoured in this manner! Peter Laverack, my brilliant lawyer and architect of my victorious challenge, will be making a presentation on the history of LGBTQ rights. Also my lead counsel, Mr Richard Drabble QC, will be attending to support me, and we are hoping leader of the opposition Mr Jeremy Corbyn MP has indicated he will attend,' Jones told the Express last week.
He said his presentation will centre on his 30-year history as an activist, his work in changing laws in both T&T and the UK.
He said he and Laverack will also discuss the Privy Council appeal and how victory there will impact on the entire English-speaking Caribbean.
In April last year Jones made history when he won a landmark court ruling which deemed this country's buggery laws as unconstitutional. The State has filed an appeal.
Jones said three weeks ago he was approached by the LGBT group of the Labour Party to speak at their Pride event and they asked him what could they do to help his cause.
'I said the British spread these laws across the World and no one in Parliament is helping me directly to remove them! Then two LGBT Labour members of Parliament -Cat Smith and Lloyd Russell-Moyle- agreed to get me an event in Westminster Parliament to highlight my work,' said Jones.
Then, he said, the assistant of the shadow Home Secretary, MP Diane Abbott, called him and set up a meeting with her.
Jones said Abbott immediately got to work on getting an event together in time before MPs break for holidays on July 25 - all in one week.
Jones noted that this will be the first time in history that the Privy Council will have ever hear a case for gay decriminalisation and offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve decriminalisation across multiple states with this one judgment.
Information about the event on Eventbrite stated that Commonwealth countries had initially inherited their anti-LGBT legislation from the UK during periods of colonialism.
'Sadly since this time most have maintained these laws, and some have gone on to make them even more discriminatory. Meanwhile immigration legislation in the UK has grown increasingly hostile to asylum seekers, including those fleeing persecution because of their sexuality,' it stated.
It stated that also on the agenda for discussion is the continued hostile environment faced by LGBTQ+ asylum seekers who come to the United Kingdom, including the recent case of 'PN' in Uganda.
The High Court has ordered the Home Office to return PN to the UK from Uganda, but the government appears to be resisting this decision.
CELEBRATING: Gay rights activist Jason Jones, second from right, celebrates with members of the LGBTQ community after the historic High Court ruling in Port of Spain in April last year.
