Wednesday: Rainbow Garden

So I will fully admit this is a most disappointing flag shot.  I waited for hours for a small gust of wind but to no avail.

But to backtrack - today is IDAHOBIT - the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.  To mark the occasion we invited some representatives from LGBTQ+ organizations over for tea and rainbow doughnuts so we could chat about how to best support them.  

Two bailed at the last minute, one didn’t show, and the four who did come were half an hour late.  And, with the four who did attend, we learnt just how divided the community is with none of the (very small) organisations talking to the others. There was a lot of bickering and one guy just spent the whole time on his phone.

It was deeply frustrating.  It’s not easy in Belize. Same sex relationships are legal but there is deep rooted homophobia, fuelled by the churches, most of whom are funded from the US.  An Equal Opportunities Bill, criminalizing hate crimes, can’t get through parliament because of the antipathy towards the LGBTQ element.

At the very least you’d think people could work together to make progress. 

Perhaps the rather limo flag is symbolic of the discussion.