The Court of Appeal has today delivered a judgment denying the Belize Government’s appeal of a 2016 ruling decriminalising adult consensual same-sex relations.

The three-judge bench reaffirmed the decision of the Chief Justice in 2016 that Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code – which criminalised ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ and disproportionately discriminated against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Belize – contravened the constitutional rights to dignity, equality before the law, privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination on the grounds of sex, and was therefore void.

Importantly, Justice Samuel Lungole-Awich stated unequivocally in today’s judgment that the Constitutional prohibition on sex discrimination includes sexual orientation discrimination, and that this “gives the word sex in ss. 3 and 16 of the Constitution a purposive and generous meaning for protecting human rights. Accordingly, we hold that s. 53 of the Criminal Code is a law which discriminates on the basis of sex…and is void to that extent.” The court further found that sexual expression is part of the Constitutional right to freedom of expression.

Téa Braun, Director of the Human Dignity Trust (HDT), which made key submissions before the court, applauded the judgment and said, ‘Today’s decision from the Court of Appeal is part of a growing international trend recognising that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is fundamentally rooted in gender stereotyping. The court rightly applied international human rights law to its interpretation of the Constitution.’ Read more via Human Dignity Trust