Friday, August 19, 2016

257.1 - Good News: Belize court knocks down anti-gay law

Good News: Belize court knocks down anti-gay law

We've got some Good News to start the week on a topic we haven't touched on much recently and while this actually doesn't affect the US, at least directly, it is evidence of a continuing change in attitudes in a number of places and I think it's good enough or at least happy enough to be worthy of mention.

On August 10, the chief justice of Belize, one Kenneth Benjamin, ruled that a section of the Belize criminal code which barred "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" contravenes the guarantees in the Belize constitution that every citizen has the right to dignity, privacy, and equal treatment under the law.

Technically, the law does not single out gay men, but that's how it has been understood and that is how it has been applied.

Under Belize's system, Justice Benjamin does not have the power to repeal the law, but he can - and did - make it essentially unenforceable.

Which yeah, I think is good news.

Sources cited in links:
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21705344-small-caribbean-country-sets-enlightened-precedent-belize-blazes-trail

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