If LGBTI rights activists in the Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda mount a legal challenge, the courts there would likely nullify that nation’s ban on sexual relations between men, according to Antigua’s cabinet. But the Antiguan government won’t take such action on its own. As Antigua’s Daily Observer reported: The government has said an … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Belize
Belize fundamentalists hope to appeal sodomy ruling
In the Belize court system, the last word hasn’t yet arrived regarding the Aug. 10 victory by LGBT rights activist Caleb Orozco, who, with support from his United Belize Advocacy Movement (Unibam), successfully challenged the country’s anti-sodomy law. Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin ruled that the sodomy provisions of Section 53 of the criminal code were … Continue reading
Caleb Orozco sets a valuable Caribbean precedent
Caleb Orozco struck me as nervous but determined when we first met in 2007. We were among only a handful of Caribbean civil society delegates at an Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly in Panama. In the very Latin space that is the OAS, I affectionately referred to our grouping as the “English ghetto” … Continue reading
Let’s celebrate: List of anti-LGBT nations shrinks again
76 countries with anti-homosexuality laws (or 72 or 78) This week’s decision by the Belize Supreme Court to overturn that nation’s anti-sodomy law has shrunk the list of nations with anti-LGBT laws once again. By this blog’s tally, the total is now 76 countries with criminal laws against sexual activity. Or the total is 72 … Continue reading
Top court in Belize overturns sodomy law
The Supreme Court in the Central American country of Belize today overturned the country’s sodomy law, issuing a long-delayed ruling on a constitutional challenge brought by LGBT rights activist Caleb Orozco, and his United Belize Action Movement (Unibam). BuzzFeed reported, based on a Twitter post by Unibam: The Belize Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a … Continue reading
Zimbabwe prisons, Pakistan arrests, Belize delay
In Zimbabwe, National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda told Parliament that homosexuality in prisons should no longer be ignored as it spreads HIV and TB. He said that Zimbabweans are “too shy” to talk about the high rate of homosexuality in the country’s prisons, which are overcrowded and a breeding ground for diseases like tuberculosis. He … Continue reading
LGBTI rights: Important legal precedent in the Caribbean
In a landmark decision delivered on Friday, June 10, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that as a homosexual I must be allowed into Belize and Trinidad notwithstanding their laws that ban the entry of gays. The court also urged both countries to repeal these archaic bits of legislation, which create confusion for travel … Continue reading
LGBTI rights in the Caribbean: Losing to win
June 10, 2016 — Today the Caribbean Court of Justice denied my application for a declaration that the laws of Belize and Trinidad & Tobago, which ban the entry of homosexuals, violate my right to free movement in CARICOM [the 15-nation Caribbean Community]. However, the court made it clear that as a homosexual I must … Continue reading
Caribbean nations inch their way toward LGBTI rights
Several Caribbean countries with laws against same-sex intimacy are at least discussing the possibility of repealing them. In Belize and Jamaica, those laws are being challenged in court. In Guyana, the prime minister talks about repealing them. In Dominica, the prime minister says they’re not enforced. But sexual minorities suffer from intense social stigma in … Continue reading
Toolkit for progress toward LGBT rights in 53 countries
The Commonwealth of 53 nations, formerly the British Commonwealth, can play a positive role in improving the lives of LGBT citizens even though dozens of those countries still have anti-LGBT laws inherited from their former colonial overlords. So say the LGBT rights advocates at London-based Kaleidoscope Trust, which this week published a “toolkit” of recommendations … Continue reading
