Compass Gender: LGBTQ+ Rights Group Condemns anti-LGBTQ+ Violence in Central America

In Central American countries such as Guatemala, LGBTQ+ individuals face high rates of violence and abuse (Wikimedia Commons).

Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organization, criticized the rampant violence against LGBTQ+ people in Central America in a 138-page report published on October 7. The report, entitled “Every Day I Live in Fear,” specifically highlighted the persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, collectively known as the Northern Triangle of Central America.

The report was based on 116 interviews with LGBTQ+ people in the Northern Triangle and 93 interviews with government officials, lawyers, journalists, and other stakeholders. It described the physical and mental abuse that members of the LGBTQ+ community have faced, in some cases forcing them to flee their homes or even their countries.

“LGBT people in the Northern Triangle face high levels of violence that their own governments appear unable or unwilling to address,” said Neela Ghoshal, a senior researcher for LGBTQ+ rights at HRW, in a statement released alongside the report. 

Ghoshal alludes to the Central American countries lagging on LGBTQ+ rights. Nearly 600 people were killed due to anti-LGBTQ+ violence in Latin America, according to a 2015 study conducted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Costa Rica became the first Central American country and sixth Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage just four years ago. No other country in Central America, let alone the Northern Triangle, has legalized same-sex marriage yet, although there is pending legislation in El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama.

In addition to persecution within the Northern Triangle, the report addresses the plight of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers who have been denied refuge in the United States. “For some LGBT people in the region, seeking asylum in the United States is the only hope of safety, but the Trump administration has blocked them at every turn,” Ghoshal added in her statement.

Stricter border control policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic have authorized the rapid expulsion of asylum seekers entering the United States. In March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly sent several unauthorized migrants, including unaccompanied children, across the border to Mexico without checking their asylum status. Other measures have included family separations, prolonged detentions, and expedited asylum review processes.

Many of the expelled LGBTQ+ asylum seekers may have to return to the dire situations waiting for them in their home countries. 

HRW called for changes to the United States’ current asylum practices. The report argues, “Given the high levels of violence and discrimination that many LGBT people face in the Northern Triangle, the U.S. government should be rigorously protecting LGBT asylum seekers’ ability to safely cross the border into the United States and apply for asylum.”