Haiti IDAHO Report 2012

Haiti celebrated its first IDAHO in 2012 with a groundbreaking conference in Port-au-Prince that brought together more than 300 people to discuss discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Haitian society.
In a country where most LGBT people are fearful of violence and cannot be photographed at an LGBT event, speakers at the conference took the bold step of standing in front of a rainbow banner that stated in Hatian Creole “Omosekyalite se pa yon mal, se omofobia ki fe mal”, which means “Homosexuality is not bad, Homophobia is bad”.
Also held were LGBT movie screenings, among which was a documentary about Haitian homosexuals, and a party for the LGBT community.
This was a milestone event for the LGBT community in Haiti, where there is little knowledge about homophobia. Event organizers hoped that the IDAHO celebrations would promote greater understanding of homophobia and consolidate partnerships among those working for LGBT rights within the country.
More information at http://kouraj.org/press/ and http://www.housingworks.org/advocat… andhttp://defend.ht/news/articles/comm…