Summary: Belize scraps colonial-era law prohibiting consensual gay sex

11th August 2016: A law in Belize that disproportionately affects gay men was ruled unconstitutional yesterday by the country’s Supreme Court. Section 53 of Belize’s Criminal Code, an old British colonial law, banned ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’, thereby making consensual gay sex between adult men in private illegal. While convictions under Section 53 were rare, the law carried a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

In handing down the judgment, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin agreed that Section 53 amounts to a violation of the constitutional rights to dignity, privacy, equality, freedom of expression and non-discrimination on grounds of sex. He found that there was no justification in the form of ‘public morality’ and the law was therefore declared void to the extent it can be applied to same-sex activity.

The case is the culmination of years of work by a Caribbean-led coalition of LGBT activists, academics and legal experts. The individual claimant is Caleb Orozco, a Belizean gay man and head of Belizean LGBT rights organisation UNIBAM. SRT grantee the Human Dignity Trust acted as an ‘Interested Party’ in support of his case. Today Mr Orozco said, “This is the first day of my life in which it is legal for me to be me. This is a history-making judgment for Belize, the country which I am proud to call home. […] In striking down Section 53, Belize has also rejected a poisonous remnant of colonial rule. We have reaffirmed ourselves as a society built on dignity and respect for all our people. This is a proud day.”

Téa Braun, Legal Director of the Human Dignity Trust, said, “This is a great victory for human rights and the rule of law. Intimacy in private between two adults of their own free will should not be a matter for the law. […] Caleb Orozco is a hero and a trailblazer. The Human Dignity Trust is immensely proud to have worked alongside him and his legal team.”

Full coverage from Human Dignity Trust’s website: http://www.humandignitytrust.org/pages/NEWS/Press%20Releases?NewsArticleID=516