“Seven years ago, no one had heard of IDAHOT, in 2010, no one discussed IDAHOT. In 2012, we started the conversation, in 2013 balloons were released at the round about, in 2014 over 100 persons showed up at a event at the former GG house, in 2015, we documenting the violence against young people. In 2016, there will be events across the system. Join EYBM at its event as it speaks to the day on May 13th at 6 at BFLA compound. Show your support by simply being there.”

Even though criminal sanctions against homosexuality are still in place in Belize, the global focus issue on youth provided an entry point for the country’s special envoy for women and children to call for acceptance of diversities and for ending human rights abuses against children.

As part of the event games will be held in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to promote IDAHOT 2015. As well as raising awareness for the day, organisers hope that the events will help combat stereotypes about LGBTI people held in these countries.

As well as these events Didesex will hope to further combat stereotypes by sharing profiles of individuals involved through their social media in the week following May 17th. Messages and images will also be shared (in Spanish) using the hashtag #deportevshomofobia.

For more information on the games, and how you can get involved please visit the Gay Games official website, as well as the Facebook page for Didesex.

IDAHOT 2014 in Belize comprised a pathbreaking series of events, featuring a special message of support from Belize’s First Lady, Kim Simplis-Barrow. 150 people, including Belizean Senator Lisa Shoman, and top US and UK diplomats, gathered for events. Actions included prayers, emotional speeches from the community, a candle-light event, exchange of flowers, and an original video release, “Love Conquers Hate”.

Belize is one of the 81 countries in the world in which same sex relationships are still criminalised. Although some voices for change are beginning to break through into the mainstream, major right-wing and Evangelical groups have also been on the rise in Belize, where levels of violence against LGBTI people are high, and frequently go unpunished.

This year, a number of concerned groups and individuals banded together to form the IDAHOT Belize Committee, which organised this year’s events.

The May 19, 2014 media release from IDAHOT Belize now follows in full:

Press Release 19th of May 2014

On the 17th of May 2014, Belize’s LGBT community celebrated The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) along with the rest of the world. More than one hundred and fifty LGBT individuals and their allies gathered at the House of Culture in Belize City, including Chargé d’Affaires Margaret Hawthorne from the USA embassy and Deputy British High Commissioner, Grace Chun. The event opened with prayers, offered by Rev. Karen Turner, who deputised for Bishop Phillip Wright, in remembrance of those who have been lost in the struggle, either as the victims of violence perpetrated because of their gender or sexual orientation or because of stigma and ignorance of HIV/AIDS.

Opening the event was a deeply heartfelt video message of support from Kim Simplis, Special Envoy for Women and Children, who, for the second year running has made her views clear about the need to embrace kindness and end bullying and discrimination against the LGBT community in Belize. Her video presentation can be viewed here:

Kim Simplis Barrow Address May 17 2014 from Seifuddin Munoz on Vimeo.

The very positive spirit of the evening continued when over a dozen speakers from around the country made statements of hope for the future of Belize, one where children would not have to live or die in fear because of who they are or who they love. Senator Lisa Shoman, human rights defender, remembered when she stood at the same location in 1981 to celebrate the independence of Belize and her feelings of elation, but as the years went by she realised that not all Belizeans were truly free and that it was time for that to change so that LGBT people can enjoy the same freedoms and rights that independence promised all Belizeans, without discrimination.

Memorable statements of the evening included Mia Quetzal, who said, “The reality is that transgender persons are frightened to do daily activities, such as: walk to a store, take public transportation or even visit other areas of the country. Most trans persons are unable to access public health services, obtain an education, partake in public activities or lead an optimistic way of life and enjoy a love life.”

Chargé d’Affaires Margaret Hawthorne said, “Diversity is one of the most striking and defining aspects of Belizean society. However, and unfortunately, during my tenure in Belize I also learned that tolerance is not always extended to all Belizeans and not all Belizeans are free to live as they choose. On this day, we acknowledge and remember the incidents of discrimination and acts of violence towards members of the LGBT community and their allies around the world. Despite these dire situations, the implementation of the International Day Against Homophobia should not rest only on a “victimisation” philosophy, but should also be seen as a great opportunity to highlight positive aspects of homosexuality and celebrate the contribution of lesbians and gays to the rich diversity and accomplishments of Belizean society.”

Guadalupe Huitron, of PASMO said, “I’ll never forget the first time someone told me that it was illegal to be gay in Belize. The first time I sat with someone as he cried because others insulted the gender of his significant other. The first time my friends and colleagues reported that their lives were being threatened because of who they loved. The pain I have seen firsthand and the discrimination against those I care about and respect reminds me that hate regardless of who it is directed towards is simply not acceptable.”

During the event a video of an anthem, created by LGBT people in Belize, was launched. ‘Love Conquers Hate’, can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp8Sgt98Y5M

The uplifting and celebratory evening was rounded off with a symbolic gathering of attendees, exchanging gifts of flowers and lighting candles.

IDAHOT was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policy makers, opinion leaders, social movements, the media, and the public in general to these issues, and to promote a world of tolerance, respect and freedom regardless of people’s sexual orientations or gender identities.

As much as the event on May 17 was against violence and oppression, it is also a day to promote freedom, diversity and acceptance. The date of May 17 was chosen as an international marker to commemorate the decision taken by the World Health organisation in 1990 to take homosexuality out of the list of mental disorders.

The entire event was sponsored and supported by Belizean individuals, businesses and organisations such as Heineken, Karl H. Menzies Company Ltd., Travellers Liquor, D’s Creations and PASMO all of whom are united in the belief that the time is now for hatred, intolerance, bullying and violence to end.

The event was organised by a committed group of LGBT people in Belize, who formed the IDAHOT 2014 Belize Committee. Committee member Paul Schmidt said “We were delighted and somewhat stunned by the outpouring of support in the community, which enabled this event to be successful, enjoyable and safe for all attendees. We hope that events like this will help young LGBT Belizeans and their loved ones to feel supported and not alone. Belize is one of many countries that continues to permit discrimination against LGBT individuals both legally and societally, through stigma and sadly, often through intimidation and violence. This has had tragic results with individuals and families across the country living in fear or bereavement, having suffered the loss of loved ones unnecessarily. This stigma affects parents, siblings, children and communities. This event allowed Belizean LGBT people and their allies stand united for change.”

Other Actions

The United States embassy in Belize also released a statement in honour of May 17, ahead of the IDAHOT 2014.

Media Coverage

• Belize Channel 7 News: Special Envoy On Human Rights for LBGT
• Gay Star News: First Lady of Belize Calls for End to Anti-Gay Violence
• Mamba Online: BELIZE 1ST LADY BACKS GAY RIGHTS, DESPITE GAY BAN

The Media Release (July 25, 2013), accompanying the launch of the report now follows:

Barring LGBT Sex in Belize and Other Caribbean Countries
SPLC Report: Groups Spreading Anti-LGBT Propaganda Abroad

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people continue making strides toward equality in the United States, hard-line U.S. religious-right groups that have spent decades demonizing LGBT people are focusing their attention – and propaganda – on a legal battle over the criminalization of LGBT sex in Belize, the outcome of which could affect criminal statutes in as many as a dozen other Caribbean countries, according to a Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) report released today.

Dangerous Liaisons: The American Religious Right & the Criminalization of Homosexuality in Belize examines how these groups are working in countries where anti-gay attitudes are strong and violence against the LGBT community is common. Several prominent groups have descended on the tiny Central American country of Belize to prevent Section 53, a statute criminalizing gay sex, from being struck down in court. Their efforts already have intensified anti-LGBT attitudes in the country, where the plaintiff in the case has been threatened and physically assaulted.

“Many of these American religious-right groups know they have lost the battle against LGBT rights in the United States, and they’re now aiding and abetting anti-LGBT forces in countries where anti-gay violence is prevalent,” said Heidi Beirich, report author and director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project. “These groups are pouring fuel on an exceedingly volatile fire.”

Groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) often refuse to even publicly acknowledge their efforts in these countries. The ADF, a prominent Christian legal group formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund, joined the legal battle in Belize by providing advice to defenders of Section 53, a criminal statute that prescribes a 10-year sentence for “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any person or animal.”

Other groups working abroad include the American Center for Law and Justice, the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, Family Watch International, United Families International, and the World Congress of Families.

The legal contest in Belize is only the latest in a wider struggle that is simultaneously being waged in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and elsewhere. Overturning Section 53 in Belize could lead to the demise of similar statutes in a dozen other countries that are part of a single legal system culminating in the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Since the arrival of the groups in Belize, LGBT activists have reported an increase in anti-gay propaganda imported from the United States – such as the bogus claim that gay men are more likely to be pedophiles.

Caleb Orozco, who is challenging the statute that criminalizes LGBT sex in Belize, said he has seen a change after the ADF’s arrival.

“I didn’t feel as insecure [before the ADF’s arrival],” he said. “The majority of people had a live-and-let-live attitude toward gays, which is ‘Do your thing, just don’t bring it to my house.’ But the controversy really gave people permission to express their hate in a way they didn’t see they had permission to before.”

Orozco has been physically assaulted in the streets and threatened with death. His lawyers worry that he could be assassinated, an event that would end the lawsuit, since he is the only plaintiff.

A report released this March by the Chicago-based Heartland Alliance, a human rights group, found that the LGBT community in Belize is routinely subjected to violence, even from law enforcement officials. The report cited, among other violent crimes, the bludgeoning death of an openly gay doctor and the murder of a politician’s gay brother in his own home. It also noted that border officials have regularly detained and harassed visitors they suspect of being gay.

Uganda, where a similar battle over the criminalization of gay sex has been raging for years, has seen violence as well. In 2010, a newspaper there published front-page photos and the home addresses of gay men under the headline “Hang Them.” Twenty-three days later, an LGBT activist on the list was murdered in his home.

“These American groups are clearly fanning the flames of anti-gay hatred,” Beirich said. “They need to explain how their stated goals of protecting religious liberty and marriage means bringing the full weight of the criminal law down on LGBT people.”

“Rainbowflash” Balloon Release

Early on Friday May 17, 2013, a small group of activists met to release 50 balloons on a main city street in Belize city. You can see their action here:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=09fWqhuy49U%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Activists Seek to Overturn Sodomy Statute

Amongst the group was LGBT rights advocate, turned national figurehead, Caleb Orozco – widely known for his eponymous involvement in the case, Caleb Orozco v.s the Attorney General. This is a landmark test case through which activists hope to overturn Section 53 of the Belizean Criminal Code, which permits penalization of same sex relationships. The case has attracting massive media coverage and strong opinions in recent months.

As a blogger from Belize explained in a special piece for May 17, “Here in Belize, Caleb Orosco V Attorney General has had Belizeans in an uproar. Clear lines have been drawn. On one side stands UNIBAM and its supporters and on the opposite side stands Belize Action and their supporters. While the judgement won’t be out until July, this case has brought the LGBT issue to the forefront of our minds. Whatever happens and however the judgement goes there’s no more ignoring this issue.”

Special Video Released by Belize’s First Lady

Belize’s Special Envoy for Children and Women – and its Prime Minister’s Wife – Kim Simplis Barrow, released a “powerful and unequivocal” video challenging homophobia & transphobia, especially for May 17, 2013. The video was extremely well circulated and welcomed with enthusiasm by LGBT activists. Many highlighted the apparent distance between her position and that of her husband’s administration. You can see the video here: