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So, since the Equal Opportunities Bill proposes to also empower the gay community as a minority group, we asked these lead personalities to discuss ways in which it will do so. 

They say that like all 19 protected characteristics, the draft legislation seeks to offer them equal protection under the law, and nothing more:

Reporter
"We know that their current 'boogeyman' is that sexual orientation' definition that has been institutionalized with the judgment. Tell us how the bill will protect the rights of those citizens who practice same-sex."

Randall Sheppard - Crown Counsel, AG Ministry "Well again, so sexual orientation is one of those protected characteristics. So, for example, if a person who is going seek employment somewhere, and that person is discriminated [against] simply because of the fact of their sexual orientation, there is recourse by the bill for the person to address that issue."

Reporter
"Give us examples where someone is being discriminated against for their sexual orientation, and how the bill will give that person redress to take action where they feel they've been wronged."

Randall Sheppard
"So, what has been established under the bill is a commission that deals with the investigation. And so, if an individual goes somewhere and feels that there has been discrimination, regardless of the characteristic is based on sexual orientation, religion, sex gender - whatever special characteristic - that person has recourse to the commission, which then has the ability to do certain investigations, make recommendation, and provide that recourse that is needed."

Hon. Laura Tucker-Longsworth - Chair, NAC
"I think that the very fact that we included many sectors the country, on this bill, including business, private sector, civil society and so on, LGBT communities, great input, great guidance. We utilized data from them, but we also utilize our statistic to show that our children are being discriminated against in terms of access to care. Persons who are infected with HIV are being discriminated against when their information is leaked out. Once a business place or a community knows that that person is HIV infected, they bar them from employment. They bar them from housing, and other opportunities."

You've already heard the National Evangelical Association of Belize's take on the anti-discrimination bill. They believe that protection against hate speech will allow for the silencing of critics of gay rights.  

We attempted put a few of the concerns of the Evangelicals to the drafters of the bill, and here's how they answered:

Reporter
"I know the church's fear is that a minority group in Belize has been empowered by a foreign agenda to no not only seek equal opportunity or treatment on the law, but actually gain an advantage over heterosexual Belizeans. If there is such a sinister motive, are there any checks and balances to protect Belizeans?"

Hon. Laura Tucker-Longsworth
"I need to take that. I don't want to focus on the presentation of one group that was on TV recently. It's quite a bit of misinformation there. We need to go back to our constitution, and to understand that we have fundamental rights and freedoms, and the bill is created to bring that to life, to flesh that out, and to give us all, every citizen of country - that's why this bill is so very important. It's practical, and it's going to afford Belizeans, the ordinary citizens of Belize who formally felt helpless. I don't want us to even take off on fear that the LGBT community is being encouraged to anything. I think it's absolutely unfair. We're speaking about human beings, and our citizens have a right to the protection that we all have. We need to be able to put sex and sexual orientation into its place, in its proper place, and we have got to stop marginalizing people."

Reporter
"What if the employer interviews John Doe, and John Doe is HIV positive, or John Doe does have a homosexual lifestyle, and that is not something that he wants to encourage or entertain in his workplace, and his business. In the process of trying to protect the rights of the minority, are you not infringing on the rights of the employer?"

Rashad Brathwaite - Consultant/Legal Draftsperson
"The question might be, is the person's HIV status materially relevant to the employment? And if it is not, then in the absence of addressing this sort of discrimination, then it means that persons who are living with HIV do not have an equal chance in Belize to live and work. So, the legislation addresses that. If the employer decides I don't want to hire a person with disability. I do not want to hire a Mayan. I don't want to hire a person of Garifuna [culture], the question is, is that sort of discrimination that Belize should tolerate? There are exceptions and exemptions in the legislation. So in the first instance, the legislation does not apply to religious bodies. If the church or another faith decides that a particular characteristic is not one that a person should have, then for religious bodies, that's permissible. Once we move into the private sector - not talking about religious organizations, that's when it's a balancing exercise."