Last night we told you about Derrica Jael Castillo, the twenty-eight-year-old BDF Lieutenant who received the Minister’s Award at this year’s Belize Youth Awards. After making a post on Facebook post attributing the award to her work for the LGBTQ community, the Youth Minister Patrick Faber responded and insisted that that was not the reason she was given the award. The Minister made it clear that her sexual orientation or her work in the LGBTQ community were not the problem, but that he was upset about the misrepresentation of the award.

Faber also said that he was considering rescinding the award. So, today, when we spoke to the Minister about the matter, he said that he will not be taking the award away from Castillo, at least not unless a proper review has been conducted.

This evening, Minister Faber posted an apology to Castillo. In the Facebook post the Minister mentions that while Castillo’s LGBTQ work was not considered when giving her the award, it should have been.