Talk:LGBT rights in Belize

September 19, 2003
The article says "As of September 19, 2003, Same sex sexual activity is illegal" and the infobox says "Criminalized since September 19, 2003", which seems to imply it was legal before that date. Is that really true, or is 2003 just the latest revision of the criminal code or something like that. If it was illegal before 2003 we shouldn't be implying otherwise. - htonl (talk) 08:15, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

The current version of the criminal code, dated 2003 did not remove section 53, which has been part of the code since the British. When Belize gained their independence from the British, the existing code was grandfathered, as it was for all prior possessions. Section 53 dates to 1888, if I am not mistaken. SusunW (talk) 05:54, 21 July 2015 (UTC) I was pretty sure I had seen that date, here. SusunW (talk) 05:56, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Would anyone have an update on this case? Havoc21 (talk) 15:08, 24 August 2013 (UTC) The case will be heard by the Supreme Court of Judicature in May 2013.[9]


 * All anal sex, regardless of the sexual orientation of parties is illegal, as is oral sex, masturbation, etc. This was clarified in the Orosco trial in 2013. There is as of yet no resolution from the court in Belize. It is anticipated that the outcome of the immigration ban case heard before the CCJ, which is Belize's appellate level court, will impact the decision on the Section 53 challenge. SusunW (talk) 00:48, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikiproject Caribbean
Added to Wikiproject Caribbean. Belize is physically located in Central America but as its language is English and its colonial past is British, the impact of LGBT legislation in Belize will have a higher impact on the Anglo-Caribbean per activists (almost all the countries that still ban anal sex were prior British colonies). It is a member of both CARICOM and the Central American States (CAS) treaties. SusunW (talk) 00:29, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Summary table
Thanks for your updates. I noted that you fixed the template Template:LGBT rights table Americas for Belize on illegality, but not the discrimination portion. I added links and references for that, as the template is a general statement "Anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation". However, I do not know how to fix it on this page. Neither the ruling, nor the press is as specific as the "summary table" at the bottom of this article. Employment, provision of goods and services, and other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) have not been covered in the press and are unlikely to be covered, as they were not part of this case. Yet it seems incorrect to show that there is no protection now for sexual orientation. SusunW (talk) 22:33, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Legal protections
The Legal protections section should be updated with material from http://amandala.com.bz/news/sex-redefined-20-years-ago-belizeans-didnt-it/. Kaldari (talk) 05:54, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
 * ✅ SusunW (talk) 16:53, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

Gender identity
According to RedLacTrans on Twitter, Erika Castellanos became the first transgender woman to change her legal name on official documents in Belize.Fhebynes (talk) 01:19, 14 October 2016 (UTC)
 * There are several transgender people in Belize who have been able to change their names previously. One of the first was Mia Quetzal, SusunW (talk) 16:14, 14 October 2016 (UTC)