PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoiris, the LGTB Association of Honduras, who defend rights in conditions of extreme risk

The Spanish online newspaper Público reports: “Since 2009, nearly 400 LGBTIQ+ murders have been recorded in Honduras.”

It is in this context that the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project accompanies Arcoíris, the LGTB Association of Honduras.

Today, PBI-Honduras has posted: “We support the work of the LGTBIQ+ rights advocates and the Rainbow Association commemorating the day of the #Pride, an organization that is born with a commitment to empower, inform and accompany the LGTB population.”

The Público article adds: “Collective discrimination is structural. It is born into families, continues in school and manifests itself in almost every scenario of daily life in the workplace, in health or in access to housing.”

“This is confirmed by dozens of reports from international organizations and NGOs, such as En Peligro Constante [In Constant Danger] carried out by the Peace Brigades and Mundubat International, or the most recent one by Human Rights Watch.”

“Between 2009, the year of the coup d’état in Honduras, to the present day, there have been 381 violent deaths: 217 of the gay population, 43 were lesbians and 121 trans.”

“92 percent of violent deaths go unpunished, according to the National Commissioner for Human Rights (CONADEH).”

“Arcoiris accuses the police of many of the threats and treatment they receive.”

The article includes quotes from Jlou Córdova, Donny Reyes and Esdra Sosa all of whom are with Arcoiris (the Rainbow Association of Honduras).

Reyes is the coordinator of Arcoiris.

He left for the United States when he was 15 years old because his parents didn’t accept his sexuality.

The article notes: “Reyes had to go into exile twice more. The first for six months to Nicaragua for a direct attack it suffered in 2012. The second to Germany in 2014 under a strong climate of threats, intimidation and persecution for his identity and the work he did in Rainbow. Still, he reiterates his decision to stay and work in Honduras.”

The article concludes: “In Rainbow they do not faint or lower their arms. They know that being an LGBTIQ+ activist is an almost heroic act that is done in conditions of extreme risk, but they are still fighting for their space and a gender identity law.”

The full article in Spanish is here.

En Peligro Constante [In Constant Danger]