Welcome to Hard Talk from the BBC World Service. I'm Alan Little. In many countries around the world, engaging in sexual activity with someone of the same sex remains a criminal offence, often carrying long prison sentences. Many of those countries are former British colonies like Uganda, Pakistan and Jamaica. My guest today is Jason Jones, who took his own country, Trinidad and Tobago,

to court to argue that its anti-gay laws were unconstitutional. He had to run the gauntlet to do it.

He was denounced by politicians and attacked by religious leaders. He received death threats,

but he won. The country's high court ruled that the existing laws were unconstitutional.

It was a key victory for gay rights and has had repercussions around the world.

Many countries had decriminalized homosexuality in recent years, while others are making existing laws more punitive still.

The Trinidad government wants to keep the existing law in place and has appealed against the court's ruling.

So can a change in the law change popular attitudes and a culture in which gay people are stigmatized?

Well, Jason Jones joins me now. Welcome to Hard Talk, Jason.

Thank you.

The law that you challenged, what did it forbid?

So any sex per anal sex was criminalized with up to 25 years in prison.

And that's between consenting male or also heterosexual, anal sex was also criminalized.

And this was based on the British colonial era buggery law,

which of course goes back to 1533 and Henry VIII.

And how rigorously was that enforced?

It's hard to say.

I have requested repeatedly for figures of cases,

but the Attorney General refuses to release those figures.

They say that they only use a buggy law when it's in conjunction with another serious matters. But to be honest with you,

it's not about whether they use them for against the community in that fashion. It's what

society uses it for to be able to justify homophobia. And what does

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