Belizean LGBT Rights Violations

A gay rights revolution is sweeping across the Americas. It's time for Washington to catch up. BY J. LESTER FEDER | JANUARY 24, 2013 In his second inaugural address, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to make the United States a beacon for the world by recommitting the country to its ideals of equality. He also made history by saying those ideals demand marriage rights for same-sex couples just as they have demanded equal citizenship for women and African Americans. But even if the Supreme Court or lawmakers soon agree with Obama's words -- "for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well" -- the United States will be a latecomer to advancing marriage rights. The world's leaders on this issue are not just from places Americans might expect -- Western Europe or Canada -- but many countries in our own hemisphere; places not usually known for progressivism on socia...

Monday, January 21, 2013 Manifesting Inconsistency in Marriage Equality Rights 1:01 PM ET JURIST Guest Columnist Allison Jernow of the International Commission of Jurists argues that recent court decisions reflect inconsistency in weighing marriage equality and religious freedom... C laims that same-sex marriage is on a collision course with religious freedom have dominated the headlines ( The New York Times and The Washington Post ) in the US, especially with recent ballot-box victories in Maryland, Maine and Washington, as well as the US Supreme Court's grant of certiorari in Hollingsworth v. Perry . Equal marriage legislation in the US always include exemptions for religious leaders in the performance or solemnization of same-sex marriages and, in some cases, in the provision of accommodations or services related to the solemnization of such marriages. In some states the very title of the legislation or proposed legislation [PD...

STATEMENT OF THE HOLY SEE DELEGATION AT THE 63rd SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS ON THE DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY (18 DECEMBER 2008) The Holy See appreciates the attempts made in the statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity –presented at the UN General Assembly on 18 December 2008- to condemn all forms of violence against homosexual persons as well as urge States to take necessary measures to put an end to all criminal penalties against them. At the same time, the Holy See notes that the wording of this statement goes well beyond the abovementioned and shared intent. In particular, the categories ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’, used in the text, find no recognition or clear and agreed definition in international law. If they had to be taken into consideration in the proclaiming and implementing of fundamental rights, these would create serious uncertainty in ...

Post 19th, January, 2013 Landmark Strasbourg ruling: Religious beliefs are no reason to oppose rights of same-sex couples January 15th, 2013 Today the European Court of Human Rights  ruled that religious beliefs may not justify opposing the rights of same-sex couples. British laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were upheld. The Strasbourg court examined four cases brought by Christians, including two who argued their beliefs allowed them to refuse a service to same-sex couples. In the first case, Lillian Ladele was a civil registrar in London. She was dismissed because she refused officiating at civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples after it became legal in 2005. She claimed she was discriminated because of her faith. The Court ruled there had been no discrimination, and that British courts—who upheld her dismissal—had struck the right balance between her right to freedom of religion, and same-sex couple...

Posted 12th, Janaury, 2013 Yesterday, in my rush to get my garbarge out the gate, I hurried down my stairs just in time to remember to run back up for my gate keys. It was while running back up my next door neighbor decided to ask" "Whey di go an with you?" don't know his name, never spoke to him before in any serious conversation. This happened on Friday, January 11th, 2013 early morning. Previous to this, he was railing about him " no bother nobody" and fucking this and that. I turned to him while passing to go to my house from my mom and said, " I don't know what you are talking about" and walked off. This happened on 5th January, 2013.  For the record, every night, my gate has to be locked  because I have had my car window smashed, car battery stolen in August, 2012 and experience constant threats that just gets tiring. I reported in my diary on 16th May, 2011 that I had an encounter with a hispanic or East Indian lookin...

 Posted January 6th, 2013 Caribbean under scrutiny as OAS reforms human rights system Published:  Sunday, January 6, 2013 Wesley Gibbings, Trinidad & Tobago Guardian Winston Dookeran Hemispheric human rights organisations are fearful that what is viewed as Caribbean complacency on civil liberties may contribute to the undermining of the inter-American human rights system through recent initiatives led by some members of the Organisation of American States (OAS). The test will come at a special session of the OAS General Assembly in March when member countries decide on a process to reform the human rights system through adjustments to the powers and influence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. The measures are being championed by Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and several other Latin American states. They include limits on “precautionary measures,” re-all...

Posted: Janu a ry 5th, 2013 The 2012 Gay Year in Review: The Top-20 Stories from the Americas December 26, 2012 BY Javier Corrales and Cameron Combs In 2012 the Western Hemisphere continued to make headlines in terms of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights. The courts in Colombia and Mexico and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights emerged as LGBT champions, while transgender rights advanced in Argentina and Canada. An openly lesbian woman entered the cabinet in Ecuador, and another was elected to the U.S. Senate. Marriage equality advanced in two of the hemisphere’s largest countries (Brazil and the United States) and the tiny Netherlands jurisdiction of Saba. However, violence against LGBT individuals remains pervasive, both in notoriously homophobic places (Jamaica and Honduras) and in more progressive countries (Brazil). In Chile, at least, LGBT-related violence has led to better laws. Below is our list of the 20 most significant poli...

P os ted: January 5th, 201 3 Latin American Gays: The Post-Left Leftists by   Javier Corrales When most straight people are forced to think about gay people, they usually think of one thing first, sex. A political scientist might focus instead on a different question:  how do gays perform in politics?  Judged from their political achievements this past decade, the answer is, at least for Latin American gays:  they’re pretty good. The political achievements of LGBT groups in Latin America in the 2000s are remarkable.  Examples include: decriminalization of homosexuality (now complete in all Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil); laws against sexual-orientation discrimination (Brazil 2000, Mexico 2003, Peru in 2004); extending the same rights and obligations to same-sex couples as heterosexual couples (e.g., Buenos Aires 2002, Colombia in 2009); granting access to health benefits, inheritance, parenting and pension rights to all couples who ...

Posted January 2nd, 2013 Could a person have their murder charges reduce to manslaughter  if they argue that it was a homosexual advance that triggered a lost of self-control. The simply answer is yes. Section 120 (e) of the Criminal Code of the Laws of Belize states that one of the causes of 'extreme provocation' would be "any thing said to the accused person by the other person or by a third person which were grave enough to make a reasonable man to lose his self-control." keep in mind tha t that 120 (f) earlier cites 'sexual assault' on another person in your care. It would not be unreasonable to extend the sexual assault defense from (a) to (e). A really adventurous attorney would even grasp at the abnormality of the mind defense. In my opinion, it would take serious bigotry to pull that one off. And putting it that way, it is something you should explore considering our 'inspired' judicial system.   You will see in Section 120 (...