PBI-Honduras mourns the murder of trans leader Thalia Rodriguez

Photo by Reportar sin miedo.

On January 10, PBI-Honduras posted: “We deeply regret the murder of trans leader and activist Thalía Rodriguez that occurred today January 10 in Tegucigalpa.”

“Thalía was a tireless advocate of the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community. Just a month ago a report was published about her life and work as an activist in Honduras.”

“We express our concern for the situation of violence and discrimination that the LGBTIQ+ collective suffers and for all the risks that advocate community members face day-to-day.”

PBI-Honduras then highlighted: “We remember the importance of carrying out an exhaustive investigation.”

Report without Fear reports: “The 58-year-old activist stood out for leading the trans movement in Honduras. It is the first LGBTIQ+ violent death of 2022 and the 400th since Vicky Hernández’s transfemicide in June 2009.”

That article also quotes JLo Córdova, member of the trans association Muñecas de Arcoíris, who says: “Thalía had been fighting for many years so that in Honduras the trans community had rights. She was a warrior because she always fought for our rights. We condemn and repudiate his murder. No more hate crimes against our community. We are outraged by this vile murder.”

The Washington Blade adds: “Rodríguez, 58, led Asociación Cozumel Trans, a Honduran trans rights group.”

CATTRACHAS, the Lesbian Feminist Organization of Honduras, tweeted: “We demand compliance with the judgment of the @CorteIDH [Inter-American Court of Human Rights] against Honduras in the case of Vicky Hernández, especially in providing protection to LGBTI people in the country.”

In June 2021, The Guardian reported: “In a landmark ruling for transgender rights, the Honduras government has been found responsible for the 2009 murder of the trans woman and activist Vicky Hernández.”

“The court ordered Honduras, which has the world’s highest rate of murders of trans people, to implement a sweeping range of measures designed to protect trans people, including anti-discrimination training for security forces and state collection of data on violence against LGBTQ+ people.”

That article also noted: “Lawyers working on Hernández’s case argued that state agents actually committed the murder. …The court ruling, which ordered Honduras to restart its investigation into Hernández’s death, found ‘several indications of the participation of state agents.’”

Last month, Thalia stated: “Really who is the protagonist of all the damage they do to the trans women’s community? It’s the same state. The one who says he watches and protects is the one who kills us, the one who hurts us.”

Arcoiris coordinator Donny Reyes has echoed that concern: “The biggest problem that we face is the violence of the state security forces towards the LGBT+ community: the armed forces, the police, the criminal investigation police, military police, municipal police.”

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Arcoíris, the LGTB Association of Honduras, since July 2015.

“We deeply regret the murder of the leader and trans activist Thalía Rodríguez that occurred today, January 10, in Tegucigalpa. Thalía was a tireless defender of the rights of the LGBTIQ + community.”