Belizean LGBT Rights Violations

Reposted 28th, August, 2013 Rustin played a key role in advancing civil rights and economic justice. His partner, Walter Naegle, talks with BuzzFeed about that legacy on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the march Rustin made a reality. posted on August 27, 2013 at 9:42pm EDT Steven Thrasher BuzzFeed Contributor   Courtesy of Associated Press Like so many gay New Yorkers of his era, a 27-year-old Walter Naegle went to Times Square one afternoon in 1977 and met a man. The tall man with the shock of white in his Afro introduced himself as Bayard Rustin. Black and 37 years Naegle’s senior, Rustin was — to a well-informed circle of activists...

Reposted: 27th, August, 2013 Sexual discrimination in Panama continues Monday, 26 August 2013 11:25 WHEN a Panamanian writer and university professor arrived in his home country for the International Book Fair. Immigration officials at Tocumen refused to recognize his family. Javier Stanziola (right) receiving one of his three liteary awards. Javier Stanziola a three times winner of the Ricardo Miró Prize, the country’s highest literature award, and former professor at the universities of Leeds in England, and the West Florida and Florida Gulf Coast in the United States, came with his partner Harris to whom he has been legally married since 2005, and a son. He hit a barrier when immigration officials prevented his entry because the official in charge felt that their marriage was not legal in Panama says a La Prensa report. Under this argument, Harris could not enter the country as family, as in Europe and the US but as a tourist....

Reposted: 21st, August 2013 Menzies Marches, Stirm Stay Put Dated: Augusted 20th, 2013   It’s been almost a month since we’ve heard from the marches organized by members of the Belize Evangelical Association of Churches. They’ve been leading what they’ve dubbed “Pro-Constitution Marches” all across the country to raise awareness on the Gender Policy, and the sections they want removed. The marches have been a joint effort between Belize Can’s Patrick Menzies, Belize Action’s Pastor Scott Stirm, and Plus TV’s Louis Wade to mobilize church leaders across the country to show just how much of the population share their sentiments. But today, Belize Can moved alone, with no support from Wade and Stirm, when he organized a march in Belmopan. 7News was there, and Daniel Ortiz found out why: Daniel Ortiz reporting At around 9:30 this morning, 100 members of the Spanish-speaking churches gathered to demonstrate in front of the House of Representatives. It...

Uganda LGBTI thrilled as US   Court Allows Case Against US Anti-Gay Religious Leader to Proceed August 19, 2013 Kampala, Uganda   – Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) happily welcomes the court ruling by   US Federal judge on Wednesday August 14, 2013. In the historic ruling the judge   rejected a motion to dismiss a crimes against humanity case brought by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) against evangelical Pastor Scott Lively of Massachusetts.   The judge ruled   that persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is indeed a crime against humanity and that the fundamental human rights of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex [LGBTI] people are protected under international law. “Widespread, systematic persecution of LGBTI people constitutes a crime against humanity that unquestionably violates international norms,” said Judge Michael Ponsor. “The history and current existence of discrimination against LGBTI people is ...

 Posted August, 13th, 2013 Prime Minister Freundel Stuart told the Christian church today, it cannot judge homosexuality until it can determine “with pontifical certainty” if the lifestyle was based on perversion or on a person’s physiological makeup. “And the argument becomes even more troublesome, because it is not within the competence of any of us in this room, to resolve the basic issue related to homosexual behaviour,” the Prime Minister Stuart said while addressing the opening of the Anglican Church Province of the West Indies Provincial Congress 2013, at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus on the theme “Challenges Facing Caribbean Families — the Church’s Response”. “We do not know, whether it is based on nature, or whether it is based on nurture. And until we can speak with pontifical certainty … whether homosexual behaviour derived from nature or from nuture, it does not lie within our competence to sit in seats of judgement and to conde...

Lesbian lovers war on Isla Bonita! Headline — 09 August 2013 — by Albert J. Ciego A woman has been released from police custody and will not face any charges for the attempted murder of her lesbian lover, whom she attempted to drown by holding her head down under water. The incident occurred at about 4:30 Saturday evening while the lovers were swimming in the sea in front of San Pedro Town. The victim was rescued by a man who saw what was happening and rushed into the sea to save her from certain death. She was rushed to the San Pedro Polyclinic, where she was resuscitated, treated and later released. Police said that the women were swimming in the sea in front of Cholos Resort in San Pedro Ambergris Caye when they became involved in an argument which escalated into a physical fight, during which one of the lovers held down the head of the other under the water and sat on her back to drown her. A witness who saw what was happening b...

Posted August 6th, 2013 I carefully read Scott Stirm’s insulting reply to my letter appearing in your Sunday, July 21, 2013 edition. Stirm attempts to insult me personally by saying that I am a homosexual. I am, and I have no more of an apology for that than I do for being right-handed, bald, or having blue eyes. He attempts to insult me by stating that I am married to a man. I was, indeed, legally married to Thomas J. Brady, M.D. five years ago, after having made a life together for the prior 33 years. Our marriage is legal under the laws of California and the United States Government. I have no apology for my married status. It offers us the legal protections, health care rights, tax benefits, financial obligations to one another, and the protection of our estate that traditionally married couples have without asking for it. We have no issue with our marriage not being recognized by various churches, synagogues, and mosques (although it is by some); ours is...

Posted August 3rd, 2013 Belize Action does not speak much about the exploitation of children in its campaign against section 53 or the gender policy. The media has not made it an issue. The United Belize Advocacy Movement, as it documents the make up of the so called "Pro constitutional Marches" We have to ask the question. If Belize action is about love, why are children being taught prejudice and participating in marches where legally they cannot give consent. We have seen women praying on their knees and holding their six month babies in support of an issue that only a person over 18 can give informed consent.  The marches in Belize City and the prayer against section 53 just before the May 7th-10th, 2013 substantive hearing revealed the slow intensification of prejudice through the next generation. Can we afford to intensify prejudice and complaint about the rampant crime and violence that have occurred over 2010-2012 where 300 murders have occurred and c...