LGBT rights in Haiti
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Homosexuality is legal in Haiti, however homosexuals often face persecution and discrimination similar to most of Latin America and the Caribbean. Although homosexuality is technically legal, there are no laws in Haiti protecting LGBT people from these types of mistreatment.
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[edit] Protection based on sexual orientation
Homosexuality was legalized by the 1986 constitution, which is currenttly in force. However, there is no further legal protection for the LGBT minority in the country.
[edit] Recognition of same-sex couples
There is no recognition of same-sex marriage, and the topic has not surfaced in serious political discussion at the national level.
[edit] LGBT life in Haiti
The major presence of AIDS/HIV, the prevalence of poverty in, and the political and social influence wielded by the Roman Catholic Church in the Haitian population is a major factor to take into account for the LGBT minority in the country. There is no obvious or outstanding LGBT life in the country.
Papa Doc's dictatorship, while extremely oppressive of the general population, did not specifically target the LGBT minority, and rumors of bisexuality between closeted government officials or Duvalier family members abounded. Noel Coward and his lover, Graham Payn, although they most often vacationed in Jamaica, often stayed in Port-au-Prince's more lavish areas when they were on vacation from the British Isles. However, the poorer LGBT minority suffered from oppression by the Duvalier regime, and it was driven even further underground by vengeful conservatives after the overthrow of the dictatorship; any remaining semblances of gay life in the country disappeared from sight.
The LGBT minority, as a result of income disparities in the country, is divided between the rich gays, lesbians and bisexuals (often in positions as NGO and UN aid workers, businesspeople, artisans, and government officials, usually consisting of whites and mulattoes) who live in such areas as Petionville (where they are a minority) and the urban poor LGBTs who live in the most desperately-poor areas of the country. They are also in the closet most of the time, although the only area that accepts an LGBT identity without discrimination is the voodoo ceremony; Voodoo, as a spirituality, possesses very little discrimination against gays, and gay participants in voodoo ceremonies are common.
The only organization that specifically specializes in AIDS treatment for the LGBT minority is Grasadis; former first lady Mildred Aristide openly expressed support for Grasadis' work.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] See also
[edit] External Links
- Haitian Gays and Lesbian Alliance
- GlobalGayz
- "Of Men and Gods" - a 2002 documentary on the lives of gays and transvestites in Haiti
- SPRACI - Gay and Lesbian
- [1]
- Gay Artists Flourish in Haiti
- Gay rights in Haiti
- The Haitian evangelical churches and homosexuality (in French, see English translation)
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