Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Belize face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens, although attitudes have been changing in recent years. Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in Belize in 2016, when the Supreme Court declared Belize's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. Belize's constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which Belizean courts have interpreted to include sexual orientation.
Belize held its first Pride Week in August 2017.. Activities raising awareness and acceptance were hosted throughout the country.
Legality of same-sex sexual activity
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 Parliament 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.
Caleb Orozco v. Attorney General of Belize
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 was the same status given to CIP.
The case was heard by the Supreme Court of Judicature in May 2013, amid violence and death threats received by LGBT activists. On 10 August 2016, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin ruled that Section 53 of the Criminal Code of Belize contravened constitutional protections of equality, dignity and personal privacy. Orozco prevailed on all points in the decision, in which Benjamin reiterated that the court was required to make a legal ruling rather than a moral judgment. Benjamin ordered that the Criminal Code be amended with the insertion of the phrase "This section shall not apply to consensual sexual acts between adults." He went on to state that the Belizean Constitution must be consistent with international interpretations and clarified that "sex" as mentioned in Section 16(3) of the Constitution, includes sexual orientation.
On 17 August 2016, the Government announced they would not appeal the ruling to the Caribbean Court of Justice, but that other interested parties may appeal. After meeting with religious leaders on September 9, the Government reversed course and announced they would make a partial appeal of the ruling, specifically appealing the declaration that the Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Interested parties filed to appeal the ruling on September 16. On 4 October 2016, the National Evangelical Association of Belize's appeal of the case was rejected by the Chief Justice because the organization was not an original interested party to the case. In March 2018, the Catholic Church in Belize officially withdrew from the appeal, leaving the Government of Belize as the sole appellant to the decision on Section 53. With the Catholic Church withdrawal, recognition was given that sexual relations between consenting adults was fully legalized in Belize, as the partial appeal by the Government concerned only whether the anti-discrimination clause of the Constitution which referred to sex could be interpreted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.