St. Lucia

Demographics

Estimated Total Population:

182,000

World Bank, 2019

Estimated SGM Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated Total SGM Adult Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated % of SGM Adults (18+):

N/A

N/A

St. Lucia, a small Caribbean country, still upholds anti-LGBT legislation that remain from the island’s colonial days. Recently, as international pressure to decriminalize homosexuality grows, the St. Lucian government doubled down on its buggery laws, stating zero intention to change them (WIC News, 2017). Despite the laws in place, they have not recently been enforced—no one is currently imprisoned for homosexuality (WIC News, 2017). In St. Lucia, there is a racial hierarchy left behind from colonialism that plays a part in homophobia—being gay is seen as “something that white people do”, as wholly unacceptable for black St. Lucians (Couzens, 2017). Darker skinnned SGMs report lower tolerance levels from St. Lucian society (Couzens, 2017). St. Lucian SGMs report chronic anxiety and stress, and darker-skinned SGMs report high rates of depression (Couzens, 2017). St. Lucia relies heavily on its tourism industry and brands itself as a “gay-friendly” vacation spot (Wahab, 2020). However, gay tourists have experienced homophobic violence in St. Lucia. International pressure has led the government to actively pursue the perpetrators of homophobic violence against tourists, while hate crimes against St. Lucian citizens go largely ignored (Wahab, 2018). Despite strict laws and low acceptance, organizations such as CariFLAGS and United & Strong publicly advocate for LGBT communities in the Caribbean.

St. Lucia's Laws and Policies from ILGA World Report (2019)

RECOGNITION
Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
No
Civil Unions
No
Joint Adoption
No
Second Parent Adoption
No
PROTECTION
Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
Yes
Broad Protections
No
Criminalization of Violence
No
Ban of Conversion Therapy
No
CRIMINALIZATION
Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
No
Gender
Any Gender
Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
10

Selected Published Studies, Reports, and Other Documents

(2017). No change to laws on gay sex or prostitution in St. Lucia.WIC News, https://wicnews.com/caribbean/no-change-laws-gay-sex-prostitution-st-lucia-23288211/

(2017). Rights’ groups urge International media to use local sources. St. Lucia Times, https://stluciatimes.com/rights-groups-urge-international-media-use-local-sources/

(2019). PAWI Opposes LGBT Celebrations –There Will Be No LGBT Pride March. The Voice, https://www.thevoiceslu.com/2019/07/pawi-opposes-lgbt-celebrations-there-will-be-no-lgbt-pride-march/

Couzens, Jimmy; Mahoney, Berenice; and Wilkinson, Dean. (2017). “It’s Just More Acceptable To Be White or Mixed Race and Gay Than Black and Gay”: The Perceptions and Experiences of Homophobia in St. Lucia.Frontiers in Psychology, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00947

Peck, A. (2014, June 16). Go or no? LGBT travel to hostile environments. TravelWeekly, 73(24), 14+. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/apps/doc/A373477526/CPI?u=duke_perkins&sid=CPI&xid=c5a74254

Wahab, Amar. (2018). Queer Affirmations: negotiating the possibilities and limits of sexual citizenship in Saint Lucia. P. 163-188. Human Rights Consortium, https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/39392/9780993110283.pdf?sequence=1#page=163

Wahab, Amar. (2020).“The darker the fruit”? Homonationalism, racialized homophobia, and neoliberal tourism in the St Lucian–US contact zone, International Feminist Journal of Politics, DOI:10.1080/14616742.2020.1758589