A supreme court in the Dominican Republic is considering anti-sodomy laws against police and military

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A top court in the Dominican Republic has agreed to consider a challenge to laws dating back to the last century that criminalize gay sex with members of the military and police.

It is the first time in recent history that someone in this socially conservative Caribbean state has challenged laws that punish such actions with up to two years in prison for police officers and one year for the military.

Although prosecutions are rare, “that is never the end of the story,” said Cristian González Cabrera, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, in an interview on Saturday.

“The laws exclude a vulnerable social group and legally sanction discrimination, violence and prejudice against (LGTBQ+) people,” he said.

The Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court heard the case on Friday and is now considering the 1953 laws for the army and 1966 laws for the police. The 50-page complaint submitted to the court states that the laws represent “a constant threat and danger that hangs over their heads like a guillotine every day they serve.”

It is unclear how many army and police officers have been punished or dismissed for alleged violations of the law, mainly because many are reluctant to make their cases public.

In 2019, a sergeant in the Dominican army was fired after a video of him having sex with another man went viral. He appealed the decision, and a court dismissed his case in 2021. He himself is also appealing and is awaiting a decision, according to Human Rights Watch.

In another case that has not been made public, a police officer was sentenced to six months in prison by her superiors, but she did not contest the ruling because she did not want to be officially identified as a lesbian on her documents for fear of backlash, said Anderson Dirocie, one of two lawyers fighting the laws.

“It's not common for people to come out here,” he said, pointing to widespread stigma even though the country allows gay sex between private individuals. “There are no real rights or real protections for (LGTBQ+) people.”

As a gay black man, he decided to challenge the laws together with another lawyer, Dirocie said on Saturday, even though rulings by the Constitutional Court are final and cannot be appealed. The court, which consists of 13 judges, has four months to make a ruling and a majority of at least nine judges is required.

Dirocie pointed out that the country's Attorney General must rule on all direct challenges to the Constitution and that he had upheld the Constitution she had presented to the court.

Countries that have abolished similar laws include Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and the United States, where gays and lesbians were barred from military service until 1993. Then, a “don't ask, don't tell” policy that ended in 2011 allowed them to serve as long as they kept quiet about their sexual orientation. In total, the U.S. military has discharged more than 100,000 soldiers because of their sexual or gender identity.