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LGBTQ muny St. Vcent, where gay sex is illegal</h1></hear><div class="primary"><div class="byle Byle_byle__7W6Ao"><strong>By  The Associated Prs</strong><time dateTime="2023-07-20T11:27:34.520Z">July 20, 2023</time></div><div class="share-ame-v2 share-tools_share-ame-v2__hJdMo"><div class="share-tools share-tools_share-tools__viyV_" style="display:none"><a class="fb share-tools_fb__qjq2r" rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" width="600" height="360" target="_blank"><svg class="in In_in__Haypr"><e href="/img/"></e></svg> </a><a class="tw share-tools_tw__4oYAb" rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" data-mentn="@Newsday" width="550" height="440" target="_blank"><svg class="in In_in__Haypr"><e href="/img/"></e></svg> </a><a class="env share-tools_env__4tzBA" href="mailto:?subject=Activists%20nmn%20vlence%20agast%20LGBTQ%20muny%20%20St.%20Vcent,%20where%20gay%20sex%20is%20illegal&body=Human%20Rights%20Watch%20has%20released%20an%20-pth%20report%20that%20tails%20the%20abe%20and%20discrimatn%20the%20LGBTQ%20muny%20says%20%20fac%20%20the%20eastern%20Caribbean%20island%20of%20St.%20Vcent%20and%20the%20Grenad., data-rel="external"><svg class="in In_in__Haypr"><e href="/img/"></e></svg> </a><button class="prt-btn share-tools_prt-btn__9hb3X prt"><svg class="in In_in__Haypr"><e href="/img/"></e></svg></button></div><button class="share-toggle"><svg class="in In_in__Haypr"><e href="/img/"></e></svg>Share</button></div><div class="ntentAccs"><div class="ntue-readg ContueReadg_ntue-readg__uTArZ" style="max-height:100%"><p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Ri — Advocy group Human Rights Watch released an -pth report Thursday that tails the abe and discrimatn the LGBTQ muny says fac the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vcent and the Grenad, where gay sex is still crimalized.</p><p>From homelsns to ongog physil and verbal abe, the gay muny the small natn of some 100,000 people says is unr nstant threat.</p><p>“Every LGBT person terviewed by Human Rights Watch said they wished to leave the untry immediately or had envisned their future abroad,” the report stated.</p><div class=""></div><p>In St. Vcent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years prison, while “gross cency” wh another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, acrdg to lonial-era laws that are mon the socially nservative Caribbean regn.</p><p>While rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people.</p><div class="newsletter-widget Newsletter_newsletter-widget__8z2gu ux Newsletter_ux__Xr3cN"><div><strong for="erContact">Get the Breakg News newsletter!</strong><p>Get the latt breakg news as happens.</p><p class="equency"></p></div><div><form class="subscribeForm" actn="" method="POST"><put class="" type="email" name="email" placeholr="Email addrs" required="" toComplete="email"/><button class="btn">Sign up</button></form></div><p class="disclaimer Newsletter_disclaimer__KROmB">By clickg Sign up, you agree to our <a href="/privacy">privacy policy</a>.</p></div><p>“The laws still have an impact,” said Jhua Bardoo, an ternatnal human rights lawyer om St. Vcent. “People feel embolned to discrimate or be vlent.”</p><p>In July 2019, two gay men om St. Vcent who are livg abroad filed a se to challenge lol laws crimalizg gay sex that activists say should be stck down. The heargs jt end, and a lol judge is expected to issue a lg upg months, said Cristian González Cabrera, a rearcher wh Human Rights Watch.</p><p>González said he wrote the report on St. Vcent and the Grenad given the high levels of abe and discrimatn agast LGBTQ people there.</p><p>“The challeng are signifint,” he said. “The (LGTBQ) muny the untry is very, very margalized and vulnerable.”</p><p>Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help.</p><div class=""></div><p>A 58-year-old bisexual man relled how someone h him the head wh a bottle an attack that cracked his skull and put him a a. The attack “ed permanent damage to his speech, visn, motor functns, memory and balance,” acrdg to the report.</p><p>Those terviewed also reported bullyg at school, promptg several of them to drop out after receivg no support om teachers or admistratn officials. One gay man relled how his classmat beat him and broke his arm.</p><p>Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir suici.</p><p>Many also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry. …. It is hard for me as a gay this untry.”</p><p>Six English-speakg natns the Caribbean still crimalize gay sex, cludg Domi, Jamai, Guyana, Grenada and St. Lucia. Four others have repealed such laws; Tridad and Tobago did so 2018, followed by Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kts and Nevis last year.</p><div class=""></div><p>“St. Vcent and the Grenad should really take note of what’s happeng the regn and not be the last untry to crimalize," González said.</p><p>A msage left wh the office of St. Vcent Prime Mister Ralph Gonsalv was not returned.</p><p>Gonsalv prevly noted there’s been a history of discrimatn agast gay people. In 2018, he nmned attacks on two men who apparently were drsed as women.</p><p>“Jt let them be,” he was quoted as sayg by lol media at the time. “Why are you beatg them? You have no right to do . That kd of irratnal homophobia is entirely unacceptable.”</p><p>González wh Human Rights Watch noted that 2019, the ernment held a workshop for public employe on the importance of rpectg gay rights, a rare move for a nservative Caribbean natn. That same year, a group of church held an anti-LGBTQ monstratn the island’s pal of Kgstown.</p><div class=""></div><p>Dpe the hostily and ongog attacks, Bardoo, the attorney who found an anizatn lled Equal Rights, Accs and Opportuni SVG Inc., held a pri event last month public – a first for the island of St. Vcent.</p><p>“I thk ’s important to build more visibily. People need to see real Vcentians who are queer or who support the issu,” he said, addg that lols often thk ’s foreign ernments imposg an agenda.</p><p>Bardoo said he had been physilly and verbally abed and would like to see what he lled “dranian laws” erased om the books.</p><p>“You wouldn’t feel like an evil person your own untry,” he said. “It’s time for change.”</p></div></div><div class="ndtv-module NewsdayTV_ndtv-module__etK3Q"><sectn id="ndtv-module" class="module SectnModule_module__GAZLm blue-top SectnModule_blue-top__q0Mjm"><div class="mod-head ModHead_mod-head__Aavlu"><div class="newsday-tv NewsdayTV_newsday-tv__n08k1"><a href="><svg class="in In_in__Haypr"><tle>newsday-tv-logo