Is Belize Gay-Friendly? An Overview |

Contents:

• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS BELIZE
• GAY NIGHTLIFE BELIZE
• GAY TRAVEL - AMBERGRIS CAYE/SAN PEDRO 2022 - BELIZE FOM
• GAY LIFE AND WORK BELIZE 2010
• IS BELIZE GAY-FRIENDLY?
• I'M A GAY TRAVEL WRER AND THK THE ARE THE 5 SAFT, MOST QUEER-IENDLY CARIBBEAN TRAVEL STATNS
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS BELIZE
• GAY-FRIENDLY TOURS BELIZE
• GAY EVENTS BELIZE
• VACAYA – GAY & LGBT+ CIS & RORT VATNS REIMAGED
• BELIZE GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS BELIZE

Tips for Gay and Lbian Travelers Belize. Homosexualy was illegal up until 2016, when the untry’s Supreme Court lred the anti-sodomy law unnstutnal, thanks to the brave work of one Caleb Oroz.

Although Belize’s first pri para proceed the followg year, the untry is still culturally and religly opposed to homosexualy, even among younger generatns.

GAY NIGHTLIFE BELIZE

There is virtually no open gay or lbian bar or club scene Belize Cy or any of the major tourist statns. Gay and lbian travelers should choose their hotels wh re and be discreet most public areas and Internati onal Gay and Lbian Travel Associatn (; tel. 954/630-1637), the tra associatn for the gay and lbian travel dtry, offers an onle directory of gay- and lbian-iendly travel bs and tour operators.

Although Belize ntu to be a largely nservative untry, is creasgly beg a popular statn for gay and lbian travelers. Wispread acceptance of homosexualy has not yet been achieved, but a recent Supreme Court cisn that stck down a law banng sodomy is a step the right is a meltg pot society posed of wily disparate groups such as Creol (scendants of enslaved Ains), the Maya, Mtizos, Che, East Indian, Mennon, Garifuna (an Ao-Caribbean people), and expats. Belizeans are also renowned for their genue iendls, cursy, and hospaly, and most gay and lbian travelers are ma to feel right at home.

Officially, there has never been a Gay Pri para Belize, but a number of private functns have been held the untry, cludg a Pri Week held for the first time San Pedro 2015. While not explicly intified as beg gay or lbian activi, the events are further proof of a wispread tolerance amongst Belizeans for people to act, drs, and behave however they wish. AdvertismentReports of asslt, harassment, or other forms of timidatn agast gay and lbian travelers are extremely rare.

GAY TRAVEL - AMBERGRIS CAYE/SAN PEDRO 2022 - BELIZE FOM

Most gay and lbian travelers have a good time and are left alone. Areas popular wh tourists such as San Pedro, Belmopan and San Ignac are particularly LGBTQ+ tolerant or iendly, and there are no reports of travelers beg arrted or fed for vlatg the untry’s archaic anti-sodomy summary, gay and lbian travelers n safely vatn Belize even if the untry isn’t que yet gay-iendly.

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GAY LIFE AND WORK BELIZE 2010

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IS BELIZE GAY-FRIENDLY?

I want to go to Belize but I'm gay. So Belize has some pretty backwards laws regardg gays and who n and nnot enter their untry. It wasn't until later that I learned, you're not supposed to go there if you're gay.

What are the risks and nsequenc of travelg to Belize while gay? I fely noticed, on the odd ocsn, slight stanc of homophobia and whatnot while I was there before, thought nothg sry or threateng (I was travelg wh a group that clud another gay guy, and met other gay travelers while there).

But at the same time, I don't really feel like the people there spend the time and energy speculatg whether or not someone might be gay or worryg about silly thgs like that. My hband and I are not often assumed to be gay dus even here at home ( fact, we are more often mistaken for brothers, or tws even, wtf).

I'M A GAY TRAVEL WRER AND THK THE ARE THE 5 SAFT, MOST QUEER-IENDLY CARIBBEAN TRAVEL STATNS

All that said, I'm not even that set on gog back there yet, and I wouldn't md givg my tourist dollars to a more hospabe untry, so I'm also wonrg about some more gay-iendly statns Central Ameri or the Caribbean that would offer some of the same thgs..

Gay travel - Ambergris Caye/San Pedro 2022. It seems that a lot of rmatn for gay travel to Ambergris Caye/San Pedro, Belize is pretty dated. Any gay bars or other typ of special plac open up at all?

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS BELIZE

Re: Gay travel - Ambergris Caye/San Pedro 2022. San Pedro is gay iendly but do not have bars or activi that I know of strictly for the LGBT muny.

At one roadsi bar, the bartenr noticed and I thk lled up another gay guy to let him know that homos were nearby ?.

I’d say travelg for men who are openly gay (lbian/bi women seem to have an easier time as the men around here seem to be to ) and any trans women is not for the fat of heart to the islands (as wh travellg to most other plac as well I gus) but ’s do-able and I highly remend bee ’s so betiful here ❤️. Although homosexualy wasn’t formally legalized Belize until 2016, was the first former Brish lony the Caribbean to overturn s anti-sodomy laws. The ma tourism zon, such as Ambergris Caye, are the most gay-iendly.

GAY-FRIENDLY TOURS BELIZE

From there I went to San Pedro, a small town on the island y of Ambergris off the east ast of Belize to talk wh half a dozen LGBT people about gay life this small ral untry. Also see: Gay Belize News and Reports. Much as imposed Brish ernance brought anizatn and stabily to Belize, the shadow si of the pdish Victorian le here was the fluence of certa penal laws, pecially the punive sodomy statut and hostily toward homosexualy.

Sodomy is still a crime on the books and homophobia still ns the cultural blood, the streets, schools and among police. In Belize, certaly a machismo society, ’s rare to hear of extreme vlence or aggrsn agast gay people. He scribed his personal voyage to his current suatn as founr and head of UniBAM, the newt LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr) anizatn Belize.

Caleb (photo right) knows everythg gay here and is one of the pot people to see for si views of the cultural, polil, tnal and health suatn for LGBT people here. From closeted ernment officials to homophobic evangelists to upg lbian groups, he offered an enthiastic and balanced view of each aspect of this remarkable untry along the Caribbean. Caleb told stori of his enunters wh homophobic bulli durg high school but as an adult do not have many war stori to tell about anti-gay vlence Belize.

GAY EVENTS BELIZE

A supportive mentator recently observed: “Belize needs to do somethg about the stigma and discrimatn agast gays and HIV. Caleb has been on TV more than once to te the public on issu such as homophobia and HIV discrimatn. On the HIVOS webse, (HIVOS is the ma funr of the Alliance Agast AIDS), scrib the tablishment of the AAA ”as a group of profsnals (gay and non-gay) who have e out to the public arena to velop actns and support for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

UniBAM is a member of the larger CONGA aln (Coaln of Gay Organizatns Central Ameri).

VACAYA – GAY & LGBT+ CIS & RORT VATNS REIMAGED

Alex and Leonardo (photo right) are a thirty-somethg gay uple of three years who rent a small two-bedroom bungalow (US$800 a month) the outskirts of San Pedro among other simple woon ho on unpaved roads. A visor would be hard prsed to fd any evince of homophobia their liv as they go about work, play and the tasks of everyday rout such as food shoppg (pecially tortillas and lol Belikan beer), pet groomg (3 cute dogs) repairg their bicycl (one motor soter, two bik, no r).

Belize Gay Guys.

Are Belizean gay guys different?

BELIZE GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023

Alex thought most gay men were more macho here regardg their homosexualy. The ‘gay muny’, if one n ll that, is posed mostly of closeted married people wh kids (ntug the fay leage is important) who don’t gather any unified way but rather have their secret sweethearts and a few close iends.

Other LGBTs are openly gay upl who live together, lols like Alex and Leo and expats like Colette and Maya (see part 4). As well, there are numero ‘quietly gay’ people, not closeted–not public, who work cy ernment or at the lol San Pedro Sun newspaper.

But there is hardly a ‘cise’ scene sce the few venu that gays favor are also favored by straight folks so the energy is fed wh beer, loud mic, dancg and the ual shoutg to talk. Regardg Homophobia.

Alex worri somewhat about Caleb bee of Caleb’s ‘darg’ approach to nontg homophobia and ‘gay attu’.

Cherie mentned that when they felt like gog to a gay place to dance they took the boat ferry to Belize Cy (which she thought was “dangero”) and a b to the Mexin borr town of Chetumal, to a classy LGBT-mixed club lled LePk, opened Augt 2009.

(Also see gay Chetumal pri para, the clost thg to a Belize Pri para.