LGBT rights in Belize
| LGBT rights in Belize | |
|---|---|
|
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| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Legal since 2016 |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation protection nationwide |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Belize face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens. Same-sex sexual activity was illegal in Belize until 2016, when the Supreme Court declared Belize's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional.
Belize also has a law prohibiting foreign homosexuals from entering the country, although the law has never been enforced. However, the court ruling striking down the sodomy law also stated that the Constitution barred discrimination based on one's sexual orientation. The Supreme Court ruling is currently being appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
According to Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code, "Every person who has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any person ... shall be liable to imprisonment for 10 years." It was argued in the challenge to Section 53 of the Criminal Code that homosexuality per se is not illegal, but any sexual act which is not the "sexual congress of a phallus inserted into a vagina" is illegal, including oral sex, anal sex between heterosexual or homosexual persons, masturbation, etc. Section 53 was overturned on 10 August 2016 as a violation of the Constitution of Belize.
While sodomy bans in The Bahamas were removed by the legislature in 1991 and bans in the British Overseas Territories were overturned in 2000 by a UK Order in Council, Belize's sodomy ban was the first one in a former British colony in the Caribbean to be judicially overturned. It was also the last sodomy ban in Central America to be struck down.
In September 2010, the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) and its executive director Caleb Orozco jointly filed a case in the Supreme Court of Judicature of Belize challenging the constitutionality of Belize's anti-sodomy law with the support of the International Commission of Jurists, the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association, and the Human Dignity Trust.
Counsel for the Church Interested Parties (CIP) (consisting of the Roman Catholic Church, the Belize Church of England Corporate Body, and the Evangelical Association of Churches) argued in January 2012 that UNIBAM had no standing to bring the case because, as an organization, it has no constitutionally guaranteed rights. Relying on Section 20 of the Belize Constitution, the court sided with CIP on 27 April 2012 and struck out UNIBAM as a claimant. In December 2012, Justice Arana granted UNIBAM "interested party" status, which is the same status given to CIP.
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