LGBT Rep on P.C.C. Reacts to Draft Report

After over two years of hard work, the People’s Constitution has rolled out its third draft report, packed with one hundred and sixty-seven recommendations. This hundred-and-twenty-nine-page document, titled ‘Compilation of PCC Recommendations,’ is based on feedback from more than six thousand, six hundred and ninety public responses. The commission has now shared the document with stakeholders for a thirty-day consultation period. After that, the recommendations will be handed over to the prime minister, who is expected to present the report in parliament. Even in its draft stage, the recommendations are stirring up mixed reactions. Caleb Orozco, the main LGBT representative on the commission, shared his thoughts with News Five today on what the report brings to the table.

 

Caleb Orozco, LGBT Representative, P.C.C.

“I need to be fair in my acknowledgment that there is a lot of good things in the recommendation reports. One of the recommendations spoke about addressing the right to dignity, another one food security, another one protection of water. These are basic things people need. It also speaks to access to information, establishment of a national health institute and addressing the restructuring of retirement plans. These are things that affect people in the everyday context of their lives. But that has to be unpacked in the context of what they mean in practice. I don’t disagree with many of these things, including the acknowledgment of Maya self-determination. I support the need for self determination one hundred fifty percent because I know what it is to be marginalized as a group of people. With that said, about sixteen of the recommendation I have no problem because it reflects the social contract we have with out citizens. A citizen affected by unemployment, poverty, violence and the list goes on. The problem with the recommendation is that it has been corrupted in procedure and in process.”