Belizean LGBT Rights Violations

Posted: 20th June, 2014 Author: Nuri Muhammad   We find ourselves in a dilemma in Belize today; are we a nation of God or a nation of laws? The answer is not as easy as some would believe. Belize is in a transitional time warp that can be better understood if we saw our collective consciousness in two parts: pre-independence and post-independence. If the same question was posed fifty years ago the answer would be resound: we are a nation of God! While we were never a theocracy by any means, the Christian religious values which underpinned our collective value system made it no question that the majority of us acknowledge the supremacy of God in our personal and collective lives and thus it is not surprising that that God consciousness forms a part of the first principle in the preamble of our constitution. During those days none would have dared challenge the constitutionality of that fundamental principle, out of reverence, or out of fear of being ostraci...

June 18th, 2014 Yesterday, on facebook, for the first time, we saw Scott Stirm admitting to Dominonists Theology in a thread started by Nefretery Nancy Marin. In the thread, Stirm said,"I am grateful for the truths we were taught at Youth With a Mission, and the" 7 influencing areas in society", once called the ”Mind Moulders” that shape our society, now called,”The 7 mountains Areas of Society”. Church, Education, Family, Gov’t, Business & Commerce, Media, Art & Entertainment. Loren Cuningham taught us that when the Church pulls back from any of these areas, then darkness takes over. It’s always important to discern the grace from our lives, for which of the areas He calling into- AREAS plural, because they do overlap. We need that “Issachar anointing” 1 Chr. 12, the “sons of Issachar who really had understanding/discern of the times to know what Israel ought to do...” We have our work cut out for us! Roll up our sleeves! Pray, hear, then GO GET EM! ...

Posted June 13th, 2014 For the first time ever, Belize and Jamaica has almost simultaneous protest regarding professor Bain termination. The debate pitted the issue of religious-base bigotry which has a moral stamp of approval against a collective who is concern about the intersecting issues of rights enforcement and protection as part of an overall health policy concern. Historically, CARICOM member states, have not constructively and responsibly addressed the rights concerns of its L.G.B.T citizens in any substantive way. The Bain case, offers the region an opportunity to teach us all about the limits of free expression and thought and the obligations of individuals in a fiduciary relationships that involves vulnerable groups. The broader concern for the region, is does religious-base bigotry gets a moral stamp of approval to undermine the rights of L.G.B.T citizens in the region and what happens in the struggle for rights acknowledgment which are already in many stat...

Reposted June 12th, 2014 So today, after my work shift I decided I would go out and grow my little direct selling business. For most of you that did not know before, I started selling Avon back in 2010 and had to slow down in 2012. Recently last week, I picked up from where I left off and back to that good old Avon guy that everyone knew me as. Maybe back then, while running here and there, waiving down taxis, jumping in and out of buses, picking up payments, dropping off deliveries, I really never had to stop and think of my safety. I have always been an OUT PROUD GAY MAN! If anyone would ask me, there would be nothing to hide and ALL and I MEAN ALL my customers that I used to serve back then in 2010 to 2012 knew exactly who I was and that was never a problem, and hopefully it remains that way. On this journey of re-joining the Avon family, I’ve decided to take on two young gay men, one 19, young and excited about life and the other, my partner’s little cousin...

Posted June 9th, 2014       CELEBRATING THE APPROVAL OF THE SEVENTH RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY IN THE OAS The Coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transgender, transsexual and intersex (LGBTTTI) in Latin America and the Caribbean made ​​up of groups of more than 20 countries, meeting in the framework of the 44th General Assembly of the Organization of American States held in Asuncion, Paraguay, from 3 to 5 June 2014, reports on developments in the Assembly as well as the work done by the Coalition in previous days. The OAS adopted in this House the seventh Resolution "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression" that: ·          Condemns all forms of discrimination, violence and human rights violations based on those factors.   Invites Member States to: ·        ...

Reposted june 9th, 2014   Written: June 9, 2014 Prince Neto DCB Waite is a Doctoral Candidate at the New York University School of Law. He is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus and Cave Hill Campus) and Harvard Law School. By Prince Neto DCB Waite The global fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) rights sits on a continuum from the fight for mere survival to the fight to live with equal dignity to heterosexual couples. In general, the Commonwealth Caribbean rests at the lower end on that continuum where survival—freedom from violence (vigilante killing hate crimes and abuse), freedom from criminal sanction and access to basic amenities (e.g. healthcare and housing)—is the central goal of LGBT rights advocacy. In this region, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas’ position as somewhat of a regional outlier was confirmed by its Court of Appeal in a recent decision. Two men, BJ and AJ (not their real names) were in an i...

June 7th, 2014 Last year in Guatemala, fundamentalist groups clash with a coalition of Afro-descendants, Feminists, LGBTTTI and  the Campaign. They argued we had nothing in common, we argued that we did. In Paraguay, the polarization was as intense as the left and far  right vy for the attention of the Secretary General at the Civil Society Dialogue on June 3rd, 2014. Alliance Defending Freedom, Yes To Life Guatemala and others asked their questions as well as our coalition. CARIFLAGS representative, helped a Young Guyanese activists Tiffany Barry worked the room to get her questions out as the far right had lots of questions regarding family that only Tiffany could respond to. We move from one side of the room to the next, while our fellow activists from St. Lucia Daryl Williams was able to chat with the microphone holder, long enough to direct his attention to us. Our Latin American activists worked the rooms as intensely as well.        ...