VIDEO: How LGBT Haitians Are Coping Two Years Later

Posted Friday, January 13, 2012 by Naima Ramos-Chapman

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  • VIDEO: How LGBT Haitians Are Coping Two Years Later

A deeply religious country, Haiti’s animosity toward the LGBT community only heightened after priests and other religious leader nonsensically accused gays and lesbians of causing the massive, 7.0 earthquake that rattled the country two years ago this week.

To document the aftermath of these absurd claims, journalist Caroline Dijckmeester-Bins, editorial cartoonist Matt Bors, and Haitian artist Chevelin Pierre teamed up to produce this dynamic video on the plight of the Haitian LGBT community—a population that, following the quake, was even threatened with violence.

Using his animations, Bors offers a unique way to shield the identities of some sources who feared for their safety and rebuke from their families. The cartoon styling also add another dimension of storytelling not often used in traditional journalism.

In the displacement camps, gay and lesbian Haitians are the most vulnerable. In addition to living in the hard-scrabble conditions, meek tarp partitions offer little privacy for intimacy and even less protection from hate speech espoused by neighbors and the regular threat of violence. 

The International Gay & Lesbian Rights Commission in conjunction with SEROvie—Haiti’s only LGBT human rights advocacy group—published a brief [PDF] last year documenting the impact on the LGBT community post-quake. The report detailed how disrupted social networks, limited physical spaces, and diminished support services left the LGBT community especially vulnerable to discrimination, sexual violence, and arbitrary arrests.

As Haiti continues to rebuild two years later, they must not only think of strong roads and structures but of a more united foundation for their people—one that includes the LGBT community.

Naima Ramos-Chapman is an associate editor at Campus Progress.

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