Society and Culture
Most Haitians affiliate with the Catholic Church or some evangelical Protestant sect. Hence, homosexuality and cross-dressing are widely seen as signs of immorality. This impacts the social status and visibility of LGBT Haitians.
Noël Coward and his lover, Graham Payn, often stayed in Port-au-Prince's more lavish areas when they were on vacation from the British Isles. Today, no visible LGBT social life exists. The LGBT minority, as a result of income disparities in the country, is divided by economic class.
The educated, upper-middle class LGBT Haitians (many of whom are civil service, NGO or UN aid workers) tend to live in such areas as Pétionville and have private social gatherings. In contrast, many other LGBT Haitians are much poorer and live in rural communities or urban slums.
LGBT Haitians of every class and religion are generally in the closet, for fear of being targeted for discrimination or harassment. The major social exception is Voodoo which, as a spiritual practice and belief, possesses little discrimination against gays.
In 2002 a documentary about gay Haitians was released titled "Of Men and Gods". The film examines the lives of several openly gay Haitian men and the discrimination that they face.
Read more about this topic: LGBT Rights In Haiti
Famous quotes containing the words society and/or culture:
“... the mass migrations now habitual in our nation are disastrous to the family and to the formation of individual character. It is impossible to create a stable society if something like a third of our people are constantly moving about. We cannot grow fine human beings, any more than we can grow fine trees, if they are constantly torn up by the roots and transplanted ...”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“I know that there are many persons to whom it seems derogatory to link a body of philosophic ideas to the social life and culture of their epoch. They seem to accept a dogma of immaculate conception of philosophical systems.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)