Candid Comments from Non-Supporters of the Bill
And while there was support for the bill – there was a group of independent persons who wanted clarity on some of the points. But there were many who didn’t support the bill. Many of them offered comments identified as Christians and/or members of a certain religious group. Most of their contention centered on elements of the bill that look at discrimination against LGBT persons and HIV/AIDS discrimination. Towards the end of the presentations, a large number of those who disagreed with the bill walked out. Here’s a snippet of some of those candid comments.
Attendee #5
“It seems that this bill is a general bill about AIDS treatment and HIV treatment and I thought that we had a public and health services commission to take care of these things for us. These things are already in place in the laws of Belize, I believe. As a male in this country, as a man, as a father, I want to tell my children the truth. I don’t want to lie to them – as you said brother and I agree with you, as a Christian – and we are a Christian nation, by the way. In fact, we are a Christian nation by the way – thank you Jesus.”
Attendee #6
“The confidentially of HIV – do you not think that that is spreading HIV more. Sex worker – how does being a sex worker productive to society. We should allow our people to express their dreams – everybody has dreams but a sex worker is not one of them. It is not a profession and we all know that this is vehicle to promote the homosexual and LGBT community. It is not about AIDS; it is not about disability. It is about them. It is not about us.”
Attendee #7
“As a regular Belizean, I am kinda disappointed that this bill had to have a kind of UNIBAM movement to it. I believe if that element would be removed from the bill, then we can really have that necessary conversation to move the country forward.”
Attendee #8
“I represent the church and I believe that this bill would discriminate against the church. We have our beliefs and I will not sit here while LGBTQ tells us that we cannot follow our God and all the principles in the Bible. You are discriminating against our beliefs. We believe in Jesus and we believe in the order of marriage. God said one man; one woman. We believe in the standards and the principles of life and it is written in our manual for living called the Bible. We will not bow to the Gods of this world. I believe that righteousness exalts a nation. But sins bring reproach. The Lord God is over Belize and we are about to be judged if we allow this pass. No government agrees to this bill will survive because the people of Belize, we reject this bill!”
