BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 17, 2020– On Monday, September 14, it was announced that the divisive and controversial Equal Opportunities Bill (EOB) would be introduced at the House of Representatives meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 16. The announcement sparked widespread consternation and condemnation the following day, which saw the introduction of a “Kill the Bill” campaign across the country.

The leaders of a number of evangelical churches, which make up the larger portion of the coalition of organizations and individuals that have taken a public stance against the bill, roused their members to rally against the EOB. The result was a string of protests and motorcades in various parts of the country, such as Belmopan, San Ignacio, Orange Walk and Punta Gorda.

As a part of their campaign, non-supporters of the bill were asked to wear white T-shirts as a sign of solidarity and spread social media awareness by posting the hashtags: #KillTheBill and #IWantMyCountryBack.

From the introduction of the drafted bill, the National Evangelical Association of Belize (NEAB) had made known their intentions to boycott its passing. During the organized protests, Pastors Louis Wade and Scott Stirm (Second Vice President, NEAB) spoke with the media, stating that their intent was to have the bill completely withdrawn because of its impositions on the Constitution of Belize in a myriad of ways. Their biggest qualm, however, relates to the categorization of discrimination in the bill, which has been sectioned off into about twenty-one classifications — four of which relate to the LGBT+ community (lawful sexual activity, intersex status, gender identity and sexual orientation). Read more via Amandala