At a glance
- Same-sex relations: legal
- Legal gender recognition: not possible
- Registration of LGBTIQ organizations: possible
- Actions related to SOGi at UN: abstained from voting on IE SOGI in 2016
Overview
Trinidad and Tobago has made progress on LGBTIQ issues in the past decade; however, there are still significant barriers to full LGBTIQ equality. In 2018, the High Court of Justice decriminalized same-sex relations. Trinidad and Tobago has a law banning “homosexuals” from immigrating. Although this law is not enforced, it contributes to the general antipathy towards LGBTIQ people in Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago remains conservative on LGBTIQ issues. There are no laws explicitly protecting LGBTIQ people from discrimination or hate crimes; therefore, government officials and private citizens subject LGBTIQ people to harassment, discrimination, and social rejection, with impunity. Transgender individuals are particularly vulnerable as there are no legal gender recognition procedures. Religious leaders and politicians publicly disparage LGBTIQ people and oppose progress towards LGBTIQ equality, even as the LGBTIQ community experiences greater visibility and societal acceptance.
