Trinidad and Tobago

LGBTIQ people’s rights in Trinidad and Tobago faced a major setback in March 2025, when the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago reinstated colonial-era laws criminalizing consensual same-sex intimacy, reversing a 2018 High Court ruling that had decriminalized such conduct. Section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act now carries a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment, while provisions criminalizing “gross indecency” between men impose penalties of up to two years. Although the Court acknowledged that these laws are not justifiable in a society that respects individual rights, it ruled that it lacked authority to overturn them due to the constitutional “savings law clause,” which protects pre-independence laws from judicial review. This clause has been widely criticized by activists, legal experts, and constitutional reform bodies, who have called for its removal.

Trinidad and Tobago does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions, and there are no legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equal Opportunity Act explicitly excludes sexual orientation from its protections, and other laws—including immigration restrictions that ban entry of “homosexuals”—remain in force, although they are not actively enforced. There are also no hate crime protections, and certain legal provisions criminalize consensual same-sex activity between minors while allowing exemptions for heterosexual peers, reinforcing structural discrimination.

Transgender and intersex people face particularly severe legal and social vulnerabilities. There is no mechanism for legal gender recognition, and only legal name changes are permitted. Intersex people lack legal protections against nonconsensual medical interventions, and systemic discrimination in health care, education, and public life persists. Advocacy groups have called for reforms, including gender recognition procedures, legal protections against discrimination and violence, and safeguards against medically unnecessary interventions on intersex children.

Despite these legal restrictions, social attitudes are gradually evolving. A 2017 survey found that 61 percent of people expressed acceptance or tolerance of same-sex relationships. LGBTIQ organizations continue to advocate for equality, including the repeal of colonial-era criminal laws and constitutional reform. However, as of 2025, Trinidad and Tobago remains one of the more restrictive legal environments for LGBTIQ people in the Americas, with criminalization, lack of antidiscrimination protections, and absence of gender recognition continuing to limit full equality.