Thursday: Belize Pride

Pride in Belize is marked on 10th August to mark the day on which same sex relationships were legalised.  It was only in 2016 so it’s not surprising that attitudes haven’t really evolved.

I went to a Pride event in Belize City, organised by a local LGBT organisation.  It left me feeling quite sad.  There were only about 25 people present, mostly from the LGBT community.   Supporters/allies totalled about 5.  They had set out many more seats so were obviously hoping more people would come.  Apparently, there were a lot of people who said they’d come and just didn’t show.

There was a panel discussion and, either side of that, entertainment which consisted of a couple of young women doing karaoke, but not with any confidence.  There was also a slightly timid drag act.

It’s the kind of event where I would normally have found humour but today I couldn’t really.  And this was in Belize City, the largest town.  If you can’t even drum up support there, where can you?