[JAMES ROSS]

I would like to start out by saying that I’m glad I joined CR Insider as there is so much useful information available. However one thing that is consistently lacking is information that would be especially useful for the LGBT community.

Case in point, I found the interview with attorney Rick Philps useful but one that made no attempt to address issues particular to me as a gay man. Mention is made of the cost of obtaining residency for a single person ($2250) and for a married couple ($3500 or so). Is this the government’s fee or the fee charges from both the government and from their law firm? The latter being the case, does their firm give this same rate to a gay couple? We are legally married in the US but accept the fact that the CR government does not recognize our marriage, but as a private firm, do they offer the same joint discount?

I have been in touch with Lic. Peterson in the past with a couple of questions and he has always been very prompt and eager to answer me. I would most definitely use this firm’s services when the times comes. I could ask him or Lic. Philps this question directly, but I believe that CR Insider should also address LGBT issues on a more consistent basis.

One of the reasons I stopped subscribing to IL Magazine was due to their lack of rarely if ever addressing these issues which are important to me. Typically, as an example, the joys and benefits of retiring to Belize are frequently touted, but not once is it mentioned that gay sex is subject to 10 years of inprisonment. They are not simply referring to public displays of behavior, but to being gay in general.

I’m not naive about gay rights in Latin America, but IL’s incomplete if not rare coverage of these issues which affect an undoubtedly present portion of their readership most often leaves me “out of the picture” as far as IL is concerned.

But as for CR Insider I intend on continually renewing my subscription because, in spite of the issues I’ve raised, there are obviously many other issues which also affect me, and they do a good job of covering these.

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