7 News Belize

Testified Against UNIBAM, J’can Professor Being Pressured Out Of Job
posted (May 19, 2014)
Press Reports out of Jamaica say that a coalition of Gay Rights Activists in that country are trying to get Brendon Bain, a professor at the University of West Indies, fired from his post because he was an expert witness in the UNIBAM challenge in the Supreme Court, which happened in May of last year.

Bain is the head of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training (CHART) Initiative, and the advocates are claiming that his expert testimony in the Caleb Orozco case in Belize represents a conflict of interest, which has destroyed their trust in him.

Bain, contributed expert testimony in the UNIBAM/Caleb Orozco case. In his deposition on August of 2012, Bain testified that some public health practitioners and agencies "have hypothesized that decriminalizing the practice of anal intercourse among consenting adults would lead to a reduction in the incidence rate of HIV infections among MSM". However, he said that to date, published data have not substantiated that hypothesis. He also deposed that removing the anti-sodomy laws off the books could have a negative effect on Belize's economy.

Well, that's not going over well with the 33 Caribbean vulnerability advocacy groups, including gay rights entities, who have initiated steps in trying to get him removed.

All these groups have taken the stance that his deposition testimony is "anti-gay" and that he has betrayed their trust.

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