Lgbtq rights belize
Is Belize gay-friendly? Local penner Colette Kase talks about how things are behind but surely improving for the LGBT community in Belize and how LGBT expats are welcome.
Belize made headlines in 2016. It was the first former British colony in the Caribbean to overturn its anti-sodomy law.
This was a relic from colonial days, which criminalized LGBT activity.
The law, while not often enforced, created a climate of intolerance towards male lover and lesbian Belizeans. As a result, many of them kept their sexuality a secret.
Even though experience could be hard for LGBT Belizeans, Belize had been – and continues to be – a popular destination for foreign LGBT travelers.
Tourism in Belize has been ‘gay-friendly’ for a long time. That doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing, though. In 1998 a homosexual cruise ship ran into protests when it docked in Belize. But by 2009, the Prime Minister’s wife welcomed a female homosexual cruise as they volunteered at the children’s hospital in Belize City.
Caleb Orozco
In 2010 a Belizean LGBT and human rights activist, Caleb Orozco, took the government to the Supreme Court.
He claimed the anti-sodomy laws violated his constitutional rights
The Court of Appeal has today delivered a opinion denying the Belize Government’s appeal of a 2016 ruling decriminalising adult consensual same-sex relations.
The three-judge bench reaffirmed the decision of the Chief Justice in 2016 that Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code – which criminalised ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ and disproportionately discriminated against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Belize – contravened the constitutional rights to dignity, equality before the statute, privacy, freedom of utterance and non-discrimination on the grounds of sex, and was therefore void.
Importantly, Justice Samuel Lungole-Awich stated unequivocally in today’s judgment that the Constitutional prohibition on sex discrimination includes sexual orientation discrimination, and that this “gives the synonyms sex in ss. 3 and 16 of the Constitution a purposive and generous meaning for protecting human rights. Accordingly, we hold that s. 53 of the Criminal Code is a law which discriminates on the basis of sex…and is void to that extent.” The court further found that sexual expression is part of the Constitutional right to f
Gender roles in Belize are fairly stereotypical and traditional. Several NGOs and international bodies are functional to improve women’s rights in Belizean society. Currently, Belize has no tough political, economic, social, or religious advocacy by women, although that is behind improving. Belize is on a par with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei in last position on the Gender Gap Index for political empowerment for women according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2010. However, in daily life outward appearances are different, with quite a scant women running their own businesses and often raising families on their have. This is more common among the Garifuna and Creole communities than the Maya and Mestizos. The other exception to the command is that in rural communities women and men are often equal as healers and shamans.
Marriage and Family
Although many women in Belize are religious, and value is placed on marriage, Belizean women often hold children at quite a young age and not necessarily within a marriage. Some do depart on to unite or remain in commonlaw unions and have more children. Others never act marry and, as a result, extended families, siblings, and friends frequentl
Belize
In 2016, Belize’s Supreme Court overturned the country’s colonial-era “buggery” commandment, Section 53 of the Belize Penal Code. Moreover, the court ruled that the Constitution protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, based on an expansive interpretation of the constitutional grounds of “sex.” The Appeals Court upheld both rulings in 2019.
Belize’s Immigration Perform classifies “any prostitute or homosexual” as “prohibited immigrants.” There are no procedures for legal gender recognition in Belize, making transgender people particularly vulnerable.
LGBTIQ organizations have reported that police, landlords, teachers, and other members of the common discriminate against Belizeans based on their perceived sexual orientation and gender persona. Evangelical churches possess opposed efforts to advance the human rights of LGBTIQ people.
Despite these challenges, LGBTIQ activists hold been celebrating Lgbtq+ fest publicly every year since August 2017, a year after same-sex intimacy was decriminalized.
* Outright study indicates that the bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected and protected in this country.
| CASE NAME | Attorney General of Belize v. Caleb Orozco |
| COUNTRY | Belize |
| COURT/ TRIBUNAL | The Court of Appeal of Belize |
| STATUS | Judgment delivered on 30 December 2019 |
Summary
Section 53 of Belize’s Criminal Code criminalised “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” which included consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults in private. In 2010 Caleb Orozco, a Belizean gay man and a prominent human rights defender, filed a question to Section 53 in the Supreme Court of Belize. The Human Dignity Trust joined the litigation as an Interested Party in April 2011. The case was heard in May 2013 and the first instance judgment was delivered by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin on 10 August 2016, finding in favour of Mr Orozco on all grounds, namely that Section 53 was unconstitutional, effectively decriminalising consensual same-sex activity conducted by adults in private.
The Attorney General appealed the Supreme Court’s judgment, albeit limited to two particular grounds, namely freedom of phrase and non-discrimination on the grounds of “sex” under Sections 12 and 16 of the Constitution respectively. Notably, the decrimin