Today, Christian Activists against gay rights ramped up their public campaign with their first so-called "Constitution March". It's a new public pressure campaign that's planned for the Belize and Cayo districts where they are planning marches to emphasize connection between the constitution of Belize and the Word Of God. And behind all that, is still the gender policy – the issue that just won't go away. Today all those messages came together in a weekday march that didn't quite bring out the multitudes, but it did turn up the volume. 7news was in Orange Walk and here's the story:
Jules Vasquez reporting
Just before 8:30 this morning, Christian Activists the Orange Walk district assembled in front of the office of the town council. Little by little they arrived, and at 9 sharp, they moved off, numbering around 250 at the height of their protest. And they made sure utilize imagery to help send their message,
Placards and posters with striking phrases, and A vehicle bearing a coffin, while was covered with posters against the gender policy. Even children participated in the march with their parents.
Oscar Barrerra - President Pastors and Ministers, Orange Walk
"As you may see we don't have a huge crowd as many people may have expected but yes we are clear and we understand and we're thankful that many churches are being represented today and we know that not everyone could have come because of jobs and stuff like that."
Pastor Lance Lewis - Evangelical Bible Church Belmopan
"And to see the people of God coming together against the gender policy in Orange Walk is a powerful statement. It's the start of something tremendous against evil, against homosexuality."
At the Barracks, they gathered to hear the message from the organizers; a message which commingled the state's supreme law, with god's law and the Gay marriage scare. As Pastors led the event from the front with able live translation into Spanish from Patrick Menzies. It was preaching to the converted but the message this time was sharpened by references to the constitution
Louis Wade - PLUS TV
"That if one nation will not fall to the evil - let it be Belize."
Patrick Menzies - 'Belize CAN'
"That if the constitution states that the people of Belize recognize that Belize shall be founded upon principle that recognizes the supremacy of God."
Pastor Scott Stirm - Belize Action
"It's basically based on the strength of our constitution, that it evokes the supremacy of God."
And that was brought right back to the Gender Policy:
Pastor Scott Stirm
"The attorneys that have looked over the gender policy have come back to us and has said that 'this is shocking' and they have compared it to the 2002 gender policy and attorneys are calling this thing 'radical extreme' and I'm not talking about politically aligned attorneys. So it's not just as saying that as the church - the primary concern and the preoccupation that we have with the present gender policy has to do with the fact that once you include the term 'sexual orientation' it tweaks and it adjusts the term 'gender'. The prime minister has told us 'when I say gender, I mean male and female exclusively' and what we've said is that this is not what this gender policy is saying. As Louis Wade mentioned this morning - last week Dianne Haylock was on Love TV saying that 'gender is a social construct and that you can change your gender' - what we're saying is that that is exactly what we're talking about - the definition of gender has been tweaked and adjusted so we call it the gender blender message where they start the whole thing of gender. So I guess Dianne Haylock pegged it right on the head and thank you very much for saying that - that's what we've been saying that the gender policy is saying that you can change your gender that is why we originally called of the withdrawal of the gender policy. The prime minister is very strong that he is not going to withdraw it but he is going to amend it and so we'll be talking about doing a lot of slashing, cut and paste and so we're cautiously optimistic that we can get over this hurdle."
And so while the dialogue continues, so does the pressure:
Oscar Barrerra
"I think as Belizeans you can understand and you're aware that you can't believe everything that our government tells us. Hence the reason we wanted to show them and we want to do actions, we don't want to just sit down and lay back and listen and wait. We need action."
Christine Perriot - Attendee (Visiting From Oklahoma)
"I am talking from experience living over there in the states where gay marriage is allowed and this type of sexuality is allowed. And I say that Belize should not - I have kids and I have boys and girls and that it should not go that way and I'm appealing that people stand up for this policy not to go through"
Pastor Scott Stirm
"We've been digging on this for the last couple of years - we see what's happening in the other nations and we see the terminology that is being used and so we understand where it's coming from and where it's going."
And now they're taking this show on the road to make sure it doesn't go there.
Yes, that is former labour activist Christine Perriot who was out there in Orange walk – and later on she'll tell us what she's been up to since leaving Belize.
Additional "Constitutional Marches" are set for San Ignacio on July 9th and Belize City on July 16th.
Today UNIBAM sent out a release calling the march an example of extremism. It says quote, "the protests, public misinformation and male religiously led opposition to the gender policy reflect institutionalized misogyny that has the effect of justifying gender based violence against women."
In this regard the police press officer used his platform to send out an inexplicable release today saying that the protest was against a quote, "UNIBAM MAN Pageant" set for this weekend in Orange Walk. The UNIBAM release says it is not holding or sponsoring the pageant but stresses that such events are not illegal and have been held in Belize for decades now.
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