Several LGBT people were left to die in the rubble after houses and buildings collapsed, explains Reginald Dupont, a manager at SEROvie. Even those LGBT people who survived faced spontaneous blame and persecution; radio sermons, church talks, word of mouth, and general discussions in the street targeted LGBT people as “sinners” who had called the earthquake upon the country by angering God. “After [LGBT people] were taken out of the debris, they had to get out of the immediate area as soon as possible so as not to attract anger,” explains Dupont.
The scapegoating and persecution took several forms documented in the report, including physical violence against LGBT people in the camps where displaced people were living (and where half a million people continue to live), and sexual violence, including so-called “corrective rape.” Corrective rape is a phenomenon that has garnered significant media attention in South Africa, among other countries; it is a crime in which rapists attempt to justify their acts by purporting to “correct” their victims’ same-sex identities and acts.
IGLHRC and SEROvie also documented the arrest of 40 women for “woman on woman activities in tents” in one camp for displaced people, according to the first Haitian television station to air a story about the arrests. In interviews, the Port-au-Prince police commissioner explained that the women would be charged with “indecency and immorality,” perhaps because Haitian law does not specifically criminalize same-sex activity. The women were released after two days in detention, but the police commissioner signaled his intent to expand such operations to other areas.
Humanitarian activist Mark Canavera details the woes of LGBT in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on the Huffington Post, drawing on reports from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and SEROvie, a Haitian gay advocacy organization.
Lumi Bast (@nugoyxi)
Haiti is a horrible place, I sadly wouldn’t expect anything less. I wish stuff like this didn’t have to happen though. 🙁
Belize
LOL. That’s the funniest bit of info I got all week.
If the LGBT can cause earthquakes, then why is it that a lot of the other countries in the world did not suffer the same fate as that of Haiti?
Also, as for the suffering, don’t blame the LGBT for your shit ass building code and/or lack thereof. The reason as to why Haiti suffered the way that it did was because of the fact that majority of these ignorant fools decided to build their infrastructure anywhere without proper consideration. Chile got hit by an earthquake that rivals that of the one that Haiti suffered and yet the country didn’t incur as much damages. Dumb fucks.
Why is Africa filled with so many ignorant people? It’s so annoying.
QJ201
@dave: Because the white people forced christianity on them and then at the end of colonialism and emperialism, picked up their toys and went back to Europe leaving many nations in disarray…and old tribal rivalries re-emerged.
Not just a black thing (cause your statement is racist)
When Yugoslavia broke apart…well lots of violence and to this day violence toward LGBTs
Bob
These people are ignorant third world morons that listen to what the evil Catholic Church tells them. They are too stupid to think for themselves. No more U.S. money should go to these backward wastelands.
JayKay
Haiti is a shithole that should be left to rot.
Not exactly breaking news.
Sol Invictus
So I can cause God to kill other people?
Lolz, the LGBT community is the best thing that happened to warfare since the Geneva protocol banned the use of chemical and biological weapons :3
MikeE
@Belize: you DO realize that Haiti isn’t in or even anywhere near Africa, right? it’s some 500 miles off the point of Florida.
KENYCITY
@dave: NOT TRUE!
Ron
Wow, the trolls are out today.
Chad
Wait! I thought Pat Robertson said the earthquakes that hit Haiti was because of their pact with the devil. Who are we supposed to blame this on, devil worshippers or gays?? I’m so confused maybe I should write into Pat’s “show” and ask him.
Nathan
@Belize: Um Haiti is in the Caribbean, not Africa
Danny
The reality is that they are isolated on an island which few people visit.
More advanced regions tend to be those that have plenty of visitors/residents to interact with one another and experience diversity (ethnicity, religion, sexuality, nationality, etc.) and the free exchange of ideas.
B
No. 12 · Danny wrote, “The reality is that they are isolated on an island which few people visit.”
The “reality” is actually the fault of France. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/16/haiti-france has a summary:
“Prior to independence, St Dominique – the country that is now Haiti – was France’s most profitable colony, thanks in no small part to its particularly brutal system of slavery. In 1791, the slaves revolted, and in 1804, after defeating Napoleon’s armies, founded the world’s first black republic.
“Following Haiti’s independence, former French slave-owners submitted detailed tabulations of their losses to the French government, with line items for each of “their” slaves that had been “lost” with Haitian independence. In 1825, the French King, Charles X, demanded that Haiti pay an “independence debt” to compensate former colonists for the slaves who had won their freedom in the Haitian Revolution. With warships stationed along the Haitian coast backing up the French demand, France insisted that Haiti pay its former coloniser 150m gold francs – ten times the fledgling black nation’s total annual revenues.
“Under threat of a French military invasion that aimed at the re-enslavement of the population, the Haitian government had little choice but to agree to pay. Haiti’s government was also forced to finance the debt through loans from a single French bank, which capitalised on its monopoly by gauging Haiti with exorbitant interest rates and fees.”
This set the stage for Haiti’s problems, with internal corruption only making things worse. The debt was still being paid off in 1947. Not sure when the payments ended.
CBRad
@Danny: I think they’ve been really screwed up ever since Papa Doc.
Eddie
@B: I didn’t know about it.If it’s true France has a moral debt with Haiti. Not only France but all european countries like England and others who colonized the world and took advantage of their early development to assault other lands. Those european countries that now are rich had colonies to explore them not to really ” colonize ” and even today there are people that clain the colonisation was a burden to the white man… If their ex-colonies would be paid back for all the riches those european thieves stollen there Europe will be worst then Haiti.
the crustybastard
@B:
You’re blaming France for this? Really?
That might make sense if you ignore the fact that almost every nation in the Western Hemisphere was someone’s colony once — but not every nation is the kind of backwards third-world shithole Haiti is determined to be.
Fact is, some countries CHOOSE not to do better, because they’d rather remain ignorant, superstitious and zenophobic while touting the virtues of preserving their ancient tradition, religion and culture. Inevitably, such tradition, religion and culture means the perpetuation of a quasi-primitive society where religious men possess dictatorial powers, women are oppressed, children are exploited, and minorities are grotesquely persecuted for sport.
the crustybastard
Gah. “Xenophobic.”
CBRad
@the crustybastard: I’ll agree with you on that one. The “debt” factor, of course, might play a bit part in the homophobia in some way, but…I agree with you on the overall historical picture.
LandStander
@Belize: Wow, do not let your hatred of Africa get in the way of GEOGRAPHY. It is hilarious that you call them all “dumb fucks”, and then go on to imply that Haiti is in Africa. Wow. Just wow. Who is the real dumb fuck?