The difficulties of leveraging LGBT legal success in Belize to advance reform

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 21/9/2020

In one breathe,  evangelical, Scott Stirm said, .." we don’t agree with the LGBT bent towards the Equal Opportunities Bill because it is introducing terminology that has never before entered into legislation… and in the next breathe said, “The National Evangelical Association of Belize would be satisfied with the building of an equal opportunity bill that is built together with the churches, with National Aids Commission on an equal platform." I say a turd by any other name is still a turd

The mix message continued in the Amandala when it said, " “Dear National AIDS Commission, UNIBAM, and Human Dignity Trust. Contrary to your belief, we actually do agree with Equal Opportunities. We just don’t agree with using legitimate areas of Equal Opportunity as the icing to cover the cake of L.G.B.T Enforced Equality..." ignoring that the bill covered 19 other characteristics.

Interestingly, The Catholic Bishop issued a letter that I can only described as embarrassing. For it  showed an ill informed man who chose not to engage the originators of the E.O.B. The letter  called the E.OB, " rushed" called for" "nationwide consensus," but in the same breathe says, " unjust discrimination has always been and will always be condemned by the church." A coordinated talking point that is repeated by the National Evangelical Association of Belize in a different form. The disingenuousness of the letter continued and identified six areas of concern, that includes the L.G.B.T reference and three sex, concerns about unparalleled power of the Commission and Tribunal, concerns about the UN Committee, confusing young people and parental rights issues. I met the Catholic Bishop on August 8th, 2017, the results of that meeting led to the Catholic Church removing itself, as interested party in our sodomy challenged in March 2018. I am convinced, he did not write this letter from an inform position. Laura Longsworth,  said as well, " I was told that the release does not sound like it was written by the bishop."  Anonymous  person who knows the Bishop writing said, "The Bishop often sends out crappy letters.

Not surprisingly, it was reported that the PM received a last minute call from Bishop Wright that lead to the government of Belize pulling the E.O.B of the table, despite majority support.  The PM said, “By and large, Cabinet felt that this is a good bill, this is a necessary bill, it‘s an overdue bill and Cabinet was very upset at having to make the decision not to proceed with it."...Monday night, before the Tuesday Cabinet meeting, Bishop Philip Wright from the mainstream churches, from the Belize Council of Churches messaged me to say that they could not, the Council of Churches could not support the bill as it now stands."

The basis of the resistance, Laura Longsworth said" "They.. brought their recording in our consultations in Belmopan which were wonderful at the end of the day. Because they said, they said it to me ‘if you remove anything that has to do with gender, anything that has to do with sexual orientation, anything that has to do with L.G.B.T. If you remove those sections we will endorse the bill"

The lesson in legislative reform is always expect the evangelicals to advance political resistance  to block any legislation that include. L.G.B.T citizens, as it advances their seven mountain theology. Well they have revealed their tactics of whispering the the mainstream bishops and contradicting themselves in Belizean media. It is clear, that no advancement of legal protection in any CARICOM country will  be advance without resistance. Movements will have to learn and engage in the same tactics in the foreseeable future. Hope is not lost as purpose remains.

The difficulties, is that while we  won to render our sodomy law unconstitutional and triggered a shift in political tone, our political leaders chose caution rather than to act in their function as policymaker of the people. While all is not lost and we get to lick our wounds of disappointment,  hope remains,  for we still have institutional drivers that is state sanction and civil society  supported . The struggle continues!


Source

The basis of the EOB resistance

The Chair of NAC says Catholic Church release is a Tradegy

Government of Belize Pulls the Equal Opportunity Bill

NEAB supports Equal Opportunities Bill, but has issue with LGBT

Catholic Church Rejects Equal Opportunities Bill

PM Barrow explains why the EOB was recinded

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