“And Jesus answered and said unto them: ‘Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.’”

– MATTHEW 24: 4, 5, and 6

There was once a man in Belize who was living two lives. He was living one life by day, and another life at night. On one violent occasion, it appears that these two lives intersected, and the upshot of that intersection was that one of his family members was killed.

I was editor of the newspaper at the time, and, try as I might, I couldn’t figure out the violent incident. I did not know how totally contradictory his two lives were.

The years went by, and then the gentleman himself was killed. I am not sure if I had become aware of the violent contradiction between his two lives before he himself was killed, but I did become aware of the individual’s two lives at some point.

The story has haunted me through the years, because of several reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that this individual must have been tortured by some terrible demons, but one could not gather this just by looking at him. Another reason is that there were innocent human beings involved with the tragedies in his life. And another reason is that this case taught me that there are secrets buried so deep within the social realities of Belize that one must never feel that he or she knows everything there is to know about this society.

I think it is fair to say that UBAD was a homophobic organization. The group was dominated by young, black males, and we were partly reacting to some behavior patterns in high places. At the time, more than four decades ago, Belize City still appeared to be a very macho community. But, Belize City was going through changes wherein some realities buried deep within our social realities were coming closer to the surface.

I do not think that Kremandala is a homophobic institution. There are probably such elements within our organization, but they are not dominant, and they are not encouraged.

On a whole, our Belizean society has been experiencing a dramatic and painful polarization, because a section of our community wants the present law changed which declares homosexual activity to be criminal activity. In fact, homosexual activity is not treated as criminal activity in Belize, the way marijuana activity, for example, is treated as criminal. So, it seems to me that the homosexuals in Belize are divided on this matter. There are people that I believe to be homosexuals who are content with the status quo and do not wish the boat to be rocked. And then there are the more aggressive homosexuals, if I may describe them that way, who want their activity to become legal, for different reasons.

There is a vocal section of our straight citizens who are very much opposed to the legalization of homosexuality, mostly because they believe that, if homosexuality is legalized, that more serious offensives would then be launched, such as homosexual marriage, public homosexual activity, various gender-related campaigns, and other offensives which will essentially threaten our children’s equilibrium and our Belizean way of life.

The aggressive homosexuals have taken their campaign for legalization of their activity to the Supreme Court, and the likelihood is that this issue will end up as high as the Caribbean Court of Justice. Neither the aggressive homosexuals or the militant straights who oppose them will give up so easily.

We have powerful people at this newspaper who are militant straights, and one or two of them have expressed their opinions publicly. For myself, I do not consider myself a militant straight. The area where I am militant is where protection of our children, of both genders, is concerned. In pursuing their sexual pleasures and lusts, adults have defiled and violated children, and ruined the rest of these children’s lives. Terrible sins have been committed by our adults against our children.

In the case of the high profile individual I spoke to you about in the first four paragraphs of this column, I am personally convinced that he must have been molested in some way during his childhood, formative years. The demons which pursued him were so terrible they could not have been manufactured within his own psyche all on their own. This is just my personal opinion, and I am not trained in any kind of psychology.

Sex is such a beautiful, wonderful thing, but the sex urge can be an overpowering thing. Societies try to regulate the sex urge in various ways. The troubling aspect of our condition is that there are individuals involved with making the rules and enforcing the regulations who are sometimes living more than one life. There is secrecy in Belize; there is hypocrisy in Belize; and there is evil in Belize.

At one point in the New Testament, Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” The polarization in Belize where sexual affairs are concerned has passed the stage where such counsel will be embraced, even by people who are otherwise Christian in their attitudes. Some Belizeans say that the issue of decriminalizing homosexuality should not be decided as a legal matter, but should be decided in the court of public opinion, which is to say, the legislature. As things stand, the issue is in the courts, and some Belizeans believe that financing for the litigation is unlimited, because it is coming from wealthy homosexual groups in foreign countries.

I don’t have any suggestions where these confrontations are concerned. It seems to me there will be more wars and rumors of wars. I remain haunted by the saga of a man who lived two lives, and who attracted violence which claimed innocent victims. I couldn’t figure out that saga until it was too late. I was humbled, and now I am haunted.