Sick to their stomachs of the violence, grieving mothers, teachers, schoolchildren and now even medical doctors have taken to the streets to demonstrate, march and hold candle vigils in protest against the out-of-control crime situation.

Fourteen years later, the apprehension of the alleged murderer of schoolgirl Jasmine Lowe, aged 13 years, whose decomposing remains was found on the Cristo Rey Road in the Cayo District of Belize, caused the spontaneous gathering of a thousand angry and raucous residents. The throng milled about the courthouse on Wednesday June 20th 2012 waiting for a glimpse of Bert Vasquez Haylock, the man the police say killed Jasmine. They chantingly demanded justice while hanging Bert Vasquez in effigy.

What is wrong about the criminalization of consensual same sex conduct is that it relegates persons to an inferior status and degrades their dignity by declaring their most private and intimate feelings “unnatural” and criminal and invades their right to privacy and equality.