Legal Counsel for LGBT to be Provided for UNIBAM and Ombudsman’s Office

Enrique Romero

Having received funding from at least two agencies earlier this year, the National AIDS Commission, in light of the Section Fifty-three decision will now proceed to appoint a pair of part-time lawyers to the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as UNIBAM.  Their role will be to assist members of the LGBT community in understanding their rights under the constitution.

Enrique Romero, Exec. Dir., National AIDS Commission

“Belize was the recipient of a grant from Global Fund in the sum of three point four million U.S dollars and these activities, most of the activities under these grants are geared towards the key populations.  One of the modules in this grant, module seven, removing legal barriers, is addressing the issue of protection of the most vulnerable key populations.  One of the activities as part of this grant involves having a part-time lawyer over a three-year period in two institutions.  After consultations with our membership and the executive of the NAC, it was agreed that one of the part-time lawyers would sit at UNIBAM and the other one would be at the Ombudsman’s Office.  Again, these are put in place so that, like I said, the key populations can have an avenue where they can lodge their complaints and see a follow through of their complaints.”

Laura Longsworth

Laura Longsworth, Chair, National AIDS Commission

“But even more importantly is the whole issue of education again, preparing the environment for us to be tolerant, for us to understand that all of us have a right to be heard.  If a member of the LGBT community goes into the police station or goes to the health center with an injury they’ll be treated like everybody else.  So we also need to teach and educate and that’s what the legal counsels will do.  We’ll teach and educate members of the LGBT community on how to take care of their legal rights and other rights and things and maybe even their economic rights, in terms of being dismissed from a job because of their sexual orientation, because they are members of the key populations or whatever.”