Is it legal to be gay in Jamaica?

What the law says

The law targets acts. Sections 76, 77 and 79 of Jamaica’s Offences Against the Person Act make certain sexual acts offences. None of them makes a person’s sexual orientation, on its own, an offence.

Buggery. Under section 76 of the Offences Against the Person Act, a person convicted of buggery, which the section calls an abominable crime, can be imprisoned for up to 10 years, with hard labour as the Act prints it. The section covers the act with mankind or with an animal.

Who section 76 covers. The words of section 76 of the Offences Against the Person Act do not limit buggery to two men. The section names the act, not the sex of the people involved.

Gross indecency between men. Section 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act applies to any male person who, in public or private,

“commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of,”

an act of gross indecency with another male person. Such a person is guilty of a misdemeanour under section 79. The section does not itself define gross indecency. The penalty under section 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act is up to 2 years in prison, at the court’s discretion.

In private too. Section 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act says in its own words that it applies in public or private. Consent between adults is not mentioned as an exception.

What changes the answer

Attempts and indecent assault. Under section 77 of the Offences Against the Person Act, attempting buggery, assault with intent to commit it, or any indecent assault on a male person is a misdemeanour, punishable by up to 7 years in prison.

What has to be proved. Section 78 of the Offences Against the Person Act says that where carnal knowledge must be proved,

“the carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon proof of penetration only.”

So for any offence in the Offences Against the Person Act that requires carnal knowledge, section 78 makes proof of penetration enough.

Women. Sections 76 to 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act name no offence for sexual acts between women. Section 79 is limited by its words to male persons, and section 77’s indecent assault offence names male victims.

Visitors. Sections 76 to 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act make no exception for tourists or other visitors. They are written for whoever commits the act.

Helping or encouraging. Under section 81 of the Offences Against the Person Act, anyone who counsels, aids or abets an indictable misdemeanour under the Act can be prosecuted and punished as if they had committed it.

Fines on top. Under section 82 of the Offences Against the Person Act, when a person is convicted of an indictable misdemeanour under the Act, the court may fine them in addition to, or instead of, the other punishment, and require them to keep the peace.

Protection orders. Under section 2 of the Domestic Violence Act, a visiting relationship is defined as one between a man and a woman, and a cohabiting spouse in terms of a man and a woman. But a member of the household, anyone who normally lives with the other person, is not limited by sex, so a partner who lives with them can still be protected.

What this page does not cover. This page reports only what the Offences Against the Person Act says, in its 2011 consolidation. Whether and how often these sections are prosecuted, and any constitutional challenge to them, are outside what the Act itself states.