St. Callistus Catholic Church issued the following announcement on Oct. 18.

A bill purporting to secure equality and anti-discrimination in Belize was withdrawn last month, after Bishop Lawrence Nicasio and other Catholic leaders raised objections to the bill’s treatment of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Nicasio said the bill risked creating a “new colonialism” where international experts are allowed to change the country’s laws, culture and values.

“I think that it was an important battle and that if the bill had passed, it would have had dire consequences for the future of Belize,” Father John Robinson, SOLT, told CNA Oct. 13. “However, I am under no delusion that the war has been won. There is a push in education at all levels to accept the new gender theory and to normalize and promote the LGBT lifestyle. I am sure that there will be similar proposals in the future.”

“It is important to realize that the Equal Opportunities Bill is only one part of a larger movement of social engineering that is largely promoted and funded by foreign entities,” said Robinson, who has lived in Belize since 1994 and is chairman of Belize’s Guadalupe Media.

“These groups have historically sought to bring about their agenda through education and law.”

Bishop Nicasio, of Belize City and Belmopan, had said the bill was “rushed” despite its great consequences for the country, and warned that it “ореnѕ thе dооr fоr Unіtеd Nаtіоnѕ Соmmіttееѕ аnd ‘ехреrtѕ,’ whо dо nоt lіvе іn Веlіzе аnd dо nоt undеrѕtаnd our vаluеѕ аnd сulturе, tо dісtаtе thе tеrmѕ оf оur lаwѕ.”

“Тhіѕ would bе а nеw соlоnіаlіѕm,” the bishop said in a Sept. 15 letter.

Several international NGO backed the legislation, as part of a global push to change laws in British Commonwealth countries.

In January the Belize government’s press office said the Equal Opportunities Bill was needed “to address and prevent discrimination, stigma, and violence.”

The bill aimed to regulate “specific conduct in areas of public life” regarding employment, education, access to premises or accommodation, provision of goods and services, travel, public services.”

It would have also established an Equal Opportunities Commission, a non-judicial body that would “work with stakeholders to address inequality, resolve disputes, conduct research and education, and develop guidelines to assist the government, businesses and the community in identifying and eliminating systemic discrimination.”

The commission would have been funded by the National Assembly but could also seek funds from domestic, regional and international sources, provided that the funding be disclosed.

Original source can be found here.

Source: St. Callistus Catholic Church