There may be no decision on decriminalizing buggery in Barbados any time soon, Minister of Family, Culture, Sports and Youth Stephen Lashley says.
“We feel that there needs to be further dialogue, but we have not seen or heard a public consensus that tells us that we should go forward and repeal the laws,” Lashley said, adding: “Perhaps the reason why . . . action was not taken is because of the controversial nature.”
Lashley was responding to a question at the Blue Ribbon panel discussion on the topic Paradigm Shift In Prevention Policy: A Public Health Perspective as part of the two-day National HIV/AIDS Commission HIV Research Symposium 2012 at the Savannah Hotel on Monday.
Fellow panellist J. Peter Figueroa, professor of public health, epidemiology and HIV, Department of Community Health and Psychiatry at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, had suggested that buggery should be legalized in an effort to encourage men who have sex with men to benefit fully from the health care system without discrimination. (LK)
