International Mechanism Submissions

Since its Third-Cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted in 2020, Grenada continues to criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults under Sections 430 and 431 of Grenada’s Criminal Code. While the language of the Criminal Code is gender-neutral, the statute has historically been used to specifically and disproportionately targets consensual same-sex sexual activity between adult men.

Grenada does not adequately prevent violence, harassment, and discrimination by State and non-State actors against people based on their perceived and actual status as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and other sexual and gender minority (“LGBTIQ+”) community. Grenadian law does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and/or gender identity or expression and such discrimination continues in matters of housing, education, employment. Although Chapter I, Section 13(3) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sex has been judicially interpreted to mean biological male and biological female and does not consider intersex conditions and, thus, does not prohibit discrimination against intersex people.

Openly LGBTIQ+ people often experience negative social stigma from other people in the community. The continued criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual activity between adult men, combined with the lack of legal or institutional protections, and the public animus towards sexual and gender minorities, fosters a hostile and dangerous environment for members of the LGBTIQ+ community in Grenada. There have been reports of deaths, threats, and verbal abuse against LGBTIQ+ individuals in Grenada.

In this report, we use the acronym LGBTIQ+ to refer to individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and/or other sexual or gender minorities. These terms necessarily do not include everyone who may experience violations of their human rights on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sex characterstic (SOGIESC) status, which is why we also include a “+” with the acronym. Any use of a modified acronym is intentional in that we are speaking only about certain members of the LGBTIQ+ population.