A bill purporting to secure equality and anti-discrimination in Belize was withdrawn last month after Bishop Lawrence Nicasio and other Catholic leaders raised objections to the bill’s treatment of sexual orientation and gender identity. Nicasio said the bill risked creating a “new colonialism” where international experts are allowed to change the country’s laws, culture and values. “I think that it was an important battle and that if the bill had passed, it would have had dire consequences for the future of Belize,” Father John Robinson, SOLT, told CNA Oct. 13. “However, I am under no delusion that the war has been won. There is a push in education at all levels to accept the new gender theory and to normalize and promote the LGBT lifestyle. I am sure that there will be similar proposals in the future.”