Jamaican Gay Man Takes Belize, Trinidad to Court Over Discriminatory Immigration Laws

Jamaican Gay Man Takes Belize, Trinidad to Court Over  Discriminatory Immigratiion Laws

Wed, July 17, 2013 Source: Channel 7 Daily News Published : July 17, 2013

The country is waiting patiently for Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin to rule  on the UNIBAM challenge to Belize’s Sodomy Laws. Well, before that  decision is handed down, another of Belize's sexually discriminatory laws  is being challenged at the highest court in the land, the Caribbean Court  of Justice. Viewers may remember, Maurice Tomlinson, the Jamaican Gay Activist who  turned down UNIBAM’s invitation to conduct sensitization sessions.  He did that because he discovered that under Section 5 of Belize’s  Immigration Act, he would be breaking the laws to enter the country  to conduct this workshop. This section states that prohibited immigrants include, quote  "Any prostitute or homosexual who may have been living  off or receiving proceeds of prostitution or homosexual behavior," end quote. Tomlinson, who is married to a Canadian man, says that this law violates  his right to freedom of movement within the Caribbean Community. Trinidad and Tobago is the only other member of CARICOM which  shares immigration laws similar to this one, and as a result, he has taken a  challenge to the CCJ – in Trinidad - forcing both countries to respond. Tomlinson has been to Belize twice, and in both visits, Belizean authorities  did not enforce this law against him, so his home nation, Jamaica, has  decided to stay out of this issue because his rights have not actually been  violated. His matter was called up today and via teleconference and Government  Representatives from both countries presented themselves for case  management. Because Jamaica has refused to intervene as a state, Tomlinson’s attorney  notified the CCJ judges’ panel that they were making an application for  special leave to be heard as an individual. That’s important because this is what’s known as an original jurisdiction matter,  and only states can usually be granted such access to the court. Nontheless, there are exceptions and the court has scheduled this application  hearing for November 12. If Tomlinson can provide a strong case, the court  will grant him leave to bring his challenge to both countries’ immigration laws. Deputy Solicitor General Nigel Hawke is the lead attorney representing the  Government of Belize, along with other Crown Counsels from the office of the  Solicitor General. We’ll keep following this story as it develops.