He 26 of August, The Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic held a public hearing to hear the direct action of unconstitutionality presented by the Dominican Inclusive Lesbian Community (COLESDOM) and Rosalba Karina Díaz Crisóstomo against the article 173 of the new Penal Code.
The provision sanctions different forms of discrimination, but does not expressly mention sexual orientation among the protected categories.
The plaintiffs requested to recognize the existence of a relative legislative omission and issue an interpretative or additive decision to correct it.. As a subsidiary claim, They asked to declare the conditional constitutionality of the article, under the understanding that the expressions “social or personal condition” and “characteristics or conditions inherent to the person” include sexual orientation, in accordance with the principles of dignity, equality and pro person, as well as the guarantees of criminal law.
Anderson Dirocie, member of the Network of LGBTI+ Litigants of the Americas and intervener in favor of action, warned that The absence of an express mention of sexual orientation allows divergent interpretations by justice operators, transferring to victims the burden of uncertainty about whether or not the State protects them against discrimination based on their sexual orientation.
As an example of this risk, contrasted the positions of the institutions that participated in the process: while the Chamber of Deputies denied the need to include sexual orientation in the criminal offense and maintained that it is not a category protected by the Constitution, The Attorney General's Office recognized that it constitutes an inherent characteristic of the person, protected by the Constitution and international law, but considered that its protection can be inferred from the current wording. This contradiction shows that the current wording of the standard does not offer a clear answer., predictable and uniform, as required by criminal law
In addition, to conclude his speech, stressed that express protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation does not only benefit LGBTI+ people. On the contrary, benefits all people, since everyone has a sexual orientation and must be protected against any discriminatory treatment motivated by it.
On the other hand, Religious organizations and groups opposed to the action presented alleged that the inclusion of sexual orientation in the criminal offense of discrimination would grant privileges to a minority and affect fundamental rights of third parties such as the family., freedom of expression or the protection of children. Finally, requested the admission of their voluntary interventions despite having been submitted after the deadline.
We urge the Dominican Constitutional Court to recognize sexual orientation as a protected category against discrimination in the new Penal Code, and to affirm the right to equality and dignity of all people, in accordance with international human rights standards.
