Same-sex sexual activity legal? Illegal Recognition of
relationships No recognition | Penalty: Life imprisonment | |
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Homosexual acts are illegal in Barbados, with a life sentence; however the law is rarely enforced. The law is currently in effect, but under review.
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Homosexual refugee claims
In 2011 the Bajan government said it was investigating claims that some gay Bajans were seeking refugee status to Canada. The Bajan minister for Foreign Affairs, Maxine McClean stated a concern of the government at these applications attempting to secure refugee status in Canada since two of the nine applications to the Canadian government had already been denied and questions surround whether it is an attempt at abusing the refugee system to Canada.
The Bajan organisation United Gays and Lesbians Against AIDS, Barbados (UGLAAB) stated it was also looking to conduct its own investigation on the same allegations. One anonymous story in the Bajan media by a past applicant stated their attempt to lie about so called persecution in order to bolster their refugee application but stated their attempt had failed.
The resident U.S. ambassador later commented to the local press that some of the other nations in region were among the highest number of such refugee applications to the United States, but he went on to say that the U.S. Embassy to Bridgetown had not yet reported any specific problems within Barbados to the U.S. State Department. The ambassador highlighted that sodomy laws were a part of statute law for Barbados and that the Barbadian government should perhaps consider formally retiring those laws to maintain Barbados' good image internationally.
International relations
In 2011 the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom stated during a Commonwealth of Nations Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Australia that his government would find it difficult to provide aid for countries which still had laws banning buggery on their statute books. Thereafter, the Attorney General for Barbados stated publicly that Barbados would not be dictated to by the U.K. Following the statement several members of Barbados' openly gay community stated that Barbados should begin to offer packaged tourism deals for gay tourists. However an informal comment line by the Barbados Nation newspaper found that plan to be disliked by some.
Following Britain's comment, the Washington, D.C. based Inter-American Court for Human Right established a unit to tackle gay rights. It noted the problems some of the laws in the region presented and stated that it would "promote the harmonious development of all its work areas based on the interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights and the need to protect the rights of all individuals and groups historically subjected to discrimination."
Recognition of same-sex unions
There is no recognition of same-sex unions in Barbados. In June 2016, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite said the Barbados Government will not change the law to allow for same-sex marriages.
LGBT rights movement in Barbados
In 2013 Donnya Piggott and Ro-Ann Mohammad founded the association Barbados Gays, Lesbians and All-Sexuals Against Discrimination as an organization to create an education mechanism and open public dialogue in a supportive manner for the LGBT community of Barbados.
Social conditions
Recent polls conducted by Caribbean Development Research Services Inc. (CADRES) have found Barbadians to be more tolerant than previous years.