Defending LGBTQI+ Rights
Honduras has been named the ‘most dangerous country in Central America for members of the gay and lesbian community’.
In Honduras, the LGBTI community has noted an increase in violence and crime against its members since the coup d’état in 2009. Between 1994 and 2008, 20 violent deaths were recorded, which multiplied significantly over the following six years. From 2009 until the end of 2014, there were 184 violent deaths.
The group that registered most victims was gay men, with 103 murders; followed by 71 murders of transgender people and 15 lesbians. In October 2015, in the absence of official and updated figures, the number of murders of LGBTI people stood at 24, increasing the death toll to 204 since the coup d’état.
Repression during the pandemic
The murder of Scarlet Caceres
We are not who they say we are
Repression during the pandemic
Arcoiris members overlooking Tegulcigulpa streets
Honduras
The situation for Honduras’s LGBTQI+ community was already critical before the current health emergency, but the arrival of COVID-19 to this Central American country has led to a double violation of their rights.
The Sexual Diversity Committee states that those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex or other (LGBTQI+) “are disproportionately suffering from the ravages of the pandemic and its consequences due to their historic social, labour and economic exclusion under the Honduran state”.
Due to the restrictions imposed by the Honduran Government, which declared a complete lockdown throughout the country and the suspension of constitutional guarantees on 20 March 2020, those with less resources find it increasingly difficult to access essential services, from personal protective equipment to food and water.
Arcoiris Association
The main problem, according to Donny Reyes, coordinator of Arcoiris Association, “is that the LGBTQI+ collective is not considered a priority group in the distribution of government aid. Other groups, like over-60’s and the disabled are given priority”. Arcoiris is therefore working to find food, housing support and biosecurity materials like bleach, soap, gloves and masks to help the LGBTQI+ collective.
At the start of the pandemic obtaining a travel permit in Honduras for members of national and international human rights or humanitarian aid organisations was a long and complicated process. In fact, many organisations denounced that the Honduran state is minimising the work of human rights defenders and journalists, as they were not included in the list of exceptions to the lockdown.
This closes their spaces for action, and blocks their fundamental work in this critical situation of suspended guarantees. “On top of this, they’re not giving travel permits to any LGBTQI+ organisation in the country, because it would be an official recognition and accreditation of our work,” says Donny Reyes.
Donny Reyes (second from right) with Arcoiris members
Arcoiris member Nallely Paola
Transphobia
Within this context, the risks faced by transgender women have increased hugely.
“I am worried for my friends, because many of them go outside to work when there is a lockdown”, one member of the Muñecas Trans Women’s Collective of Arcoiris comments.
The lack of work opportunities means that sex work in the streets of Tegucigalpa is one of the very few options this group has to make a living. In the midst of a pandemic and its restrictions, they must break the quarantine order and risk being arrested or becoming victims to violence.
In early 2020 we received reports of several attacks against trans women by soldiers, the National Police and private security agents, including verbal and physical attacks, threats and the use of tear gas.
“They take advantage of the fact that we are violating the lockdown order to threaten us and hit us. But we need to pay our rent and buy food. Going out on the street is our only option”, says Adriana, a trans woman who recently suffered an attack by soldiers in the centre of Tegucigalpa. Some of them have even reported being coerced into performing sexual acts in order to avoid being arrested.
Since the beginning of the lockdown on 16 March 2020, we have received information of at least fifteen human rights violations committed against trans women, which has only added to the increase in domestic violence following prolonged confinement. Reported violations have included intimidation, sexual assault, threats, arbitrary detention, medical negligence, and torture.
Arcoiris member JLO Cordoba
Access to healthcare
Alongside the fear of being arrested or violently attacked, accessing health services has become even more difficult during the lockdown. This is particularly worrying for people living with HIV/AIDS, who have a compromised immune system. Arcoiris and the Muñecas collective are concerned.
“Our HIV positive members do not have the means to travel to pick up their medicines, firstly due to the lack of transportation, and secondly because the trans women do not have identification and it’s very risky to leave the house like this. The few women who manage to get their medication can’t take it in the end, because they need to be taken with food, and the vast majority of them don’t have access to food right now”.
Facing this situation, trans women, who already regularly experience situations of violence, discrimination, and a generalised hostility, are now more than ever looking to one another for support and companionship in order to lower their risk.
Transfemicide
On 5 May 2020, Honduras recorded its first hate crime during the health emergency when a 23 year old trans woman in the Caribbean city of La Ceiba was murdered. Although the arrival of COVID-19 has intensified the violence against the LGBTQI+ collective, this is not a new development.
According to the Observatory of Violent Deaths of the LGBTI Community in Honduras, part of the Cattrachas Lesbian Network, so far in 2020 there have been at least six murders of LGBTQI+ individuals, one trans woman among them. In the last decade, organisations have reported over 315 hate crimes, of which almost a third were against trans persons. Of all these crimes, 92% remain unpunished.
Since 2009 at least 350 LGBTQI+ people, mainly trans women, have been killed in Honduras. Those who survive seldom report it for fear of the consequences as they continue to receive death threats and harassment. Research shows that at least 60% of the hate crimes are carried out by the armed forces. Impunity rates in the cases that are reported is 98%.
Arcoiris director Esdra Sosa
Each year 25 members of Honduras’ LGBTQI+ community are killed in Honduras – the majority hate related crimes.
- Esdra Sosa
The murder of Scarlet Cáceres
On the night of 10 July, a group of trans women were attacked by unknown assailants in the centre of Tegucigalpa.
The men arrived in a car with its license plates removed, and began to shoot in the direction of Scarlet Cambel, human rights defender and member of Arcoiris LGBTQI+ Association.
Cambel died from her injuries, while another trans woman was injured in the hand. This killing occurred one year after the slaying of Bessy Ferrera, another member of Arcoiris. Arcoiris has spent months awaiting the implementation of collective security measures from the Honduran National Protection Mechanism.
Scarlet Caceres
Scarlet had already suffered several attacks in the months prior to her murder, none of which were investigated.
On 15 April 2020, Scarlet and two companions were assaulted by a military patrol in the centre of Tegucigalpa under the pretext of enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown; they were also threatened with forced disappearance should they report the incident.
One month later, Scarlet was hospitalised following an attack against her and other trans companions by a group of men armed with baseball bats. Scarlet was also attacked by members of the private security forces hired by the Tegucigalpa’s Teaching Hospital, where she was refused necessary medical attention.
According to Arcoiris, the motive of the attacks against Scarlet could be related to an interview she gave in which she publicly denounced abuses committed by police and the armed forces.
Our response
PBI issued an urgent alert in response to the news that Scarlet had been murdered.
Our objective was to demonstrate our concern over the continuous increase in attacks against members of the LGBTQI+ community and particularly against trans women. The alert called attention to this collective’s longstanding vulnerable situation, which has worsened during the COVID-19 health emergency. In this new context, the LGBTQI+ collective has not been given priority by the Honduran government to receive state aid.
We have been accompanying Arcoiris since 2015, providing security and protection for their members through risk assessments, self protection strategies and monitoring and tracking of security incidents.
PBI UK Director Susi Bascon with Arcoiris member
We are not who they say we are
Part of our response to Carmel’s tragic murder was to produce a short documentary about the collective she was part of.
We Are Not Who They Say We Are tells the story of Arcoiris, a group of LGBTQI+ human rights defenders in Honduras. In recent years the organisation has faced mounting attacks and threats following relentless public abuse and stigmatisation. Prejudice from the police and judiciary means that these attacks go largely unpunished, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be an LGBTQI+ human rights defender.
The film aims to raise the profile of LGBTQI+ defenders working in some of the most dangerous environments in the world and galvanise support for them internationally.
“I have the most beautiful family I could have chosen.”
JLO Cordoba, Arcoiris member
Manu Valcarce with Arcoiris member
Manu Valcarce
Manu is a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in London. He has worked on projects ranging from the lives of Muslim transsexuals living in Jakarta, Indonesia, to those affected by austerity in rural Spain.
His work has been screened in the Tate Modern as part of the Uniqlo Tate Lates and exhibited in solo and collective shows as well as photography festivals.
“As a gay man growing up in 1990s Spain - when attitudes were not as open-minded as they are today - I can relate to the pain suffered by the LGBTQI+ community in countries yet to experience that transformation. Growing up with repression at home, glares and verbal abuse in the streets, and negative representation in the media persist all over the world.
However, the situation in Honduras went beyond anything I could have experienced or even imagined. The LGBTQI+ community often talks of post-traumatic growth, and I saw in these incredible human rights defenders an example of how to direct your pain to fight passionately for your rights, and to help others going through similar experiences.
I learned so much about the resilience and solidarity of my community, which I found deeply inspiring.”
Manu Valcarce with Arcoiris Association
Leeds International Film Festival website
Film festivals
We are delighted that We Are Not Who They Say We Are has been selected for nine film festivals including the world-famous Leeds International Film Festival, which is BAFTA-eligible and attracts around 40,000 attendees per year.
We are hoping to continue screening the film at festivals in 2021 to reach an even wider audience.
Margate film festival - Semi-finalist
Film for peace - Finalist
Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival - Selected
Latino Film Market - Selected
FilmPride (Brighton & Hove Pride Film Festival) - Selected
Queerbee Film Festival - Selected
PRIDE Queer Film Festival - Selected
Leeds International Film Festival - Selected
NorthwestFest International Documentary Festival - Selected