According to a statement issued by PBI Honduras and the Front Line Defenders, between January and June of 2022, 19 members of the LGBTQ+ community in Honduras have been murdered. On May 14th, the human rights defenders and Colectiva de Mujeres Trans Muñecas members, Rixy García and Trixie Madrid, suffered an attempted assassination attempt by an unknown man in the center of the capital, Tegucigalpa. Rixy García suffered fractures to her jaw and Rixie Madrid was stabbed in the stomach with a screwdriver. During their emergency hospitalization, the women reported being treated in a discriminatory and transphobic manner by health staff. This attack took place a week after the collective attended several activities organized by members of SOMOS CDC and the organization Arcoiris on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. Despite the seriousness of her injuries, Rixy García is still awaiting surgery.
On May 16th, Lucía Barrientos, a coordinator of the Comité de la Diversidad Sexual y Grupo de Mujeres Lesbianas, Bisexuales y Trans IXCHEL, received several anonymous threatening phone calls while she was in Tegucigalpa. On June 5th, the LGBTQ+ rights defender Brayan Josué Lopez Guzmán, a member of the organization Comunidad Gay Sampedrana para la Salud Integral and a collaborator of the Colectivo Unidad Color Rosa, was killed in San Pedro Sula. The OHCHR called for “a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation that considers all avenues of motives, including the possibility of a hate crime because of his sexual orientation or a reprisal for his human rights advocacy.” On June 8th, Ameliana Zerón, a trans woman and member of SOMOS CDC, was assaulted while traveling on a bus and had her wallet and mobile phone stolen. She was the only person on the bus who was assaulted.
Representatives Joaquin Castro, David Cecilline, and Albio Sires led 27 members of Congress in the writing of a letter urging the State Department and the U.S Agency for International Development to strengthen their commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in Latin America.
The Honduran government is required to comply with a 2021 ruling by the Inter-American Court requiring the implementation of a gender identity law and the collection of data on violence against LGBTQ+ individuals. President Castro has committed to creating a legal gender recognition procedure in Honduras that will allow transgender individuals to modify their legal documents to reflect their gender identity. President Castro has also agreed to comply with other aspects of the court’s ruling, including implementing LGBTQ+ awareness training for security forces, as well as a protocol for criminal investigations in these cases, and improving data collection in cases motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias.
Nearly 50 percent of all crimes committed against members of the LGBTQ+ community in Central America occurred in Honduras.
