Photo: U.S. Coast Guard/Etta Smith
LGBT groups send aid to Haiti
Thursday, 28 January 2010 11:06
International and national LGBT and HIV/AIDS groups are exporting hope, not homophobia, to Haiti.
Organizations such as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Campaign, New York’s Aid for AIDS and Houston’s Rainbow Relief are providing alternatives to donating to faith-based organizations with poor records on LGBT rights. They’re focusing their efforts on supporting healthcare in the Caribbean country, which was devastated Jan. 12 by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
“The earthquake has been catastrophic for every sector, including Haiti’s LGBT community,” said IGLHRC executive director Cary Alan Johnson, who visited the country in 2009.
The Haitian government, as of Jan. 23, estimated that 200,000 people died, 250,000 suffered injuries and some 2 million were homeless in a nation of 9 million.
As the focus in Haiti shifted from rescuing people from rubble to caring for the injured and feeding and sheltering the homeless, community groups at the international, national and local levels focused on raising money and supplies to fend off epidemics, treat the wounded and care for the sick.
The Pan American Health Organization said hospitals and mobile clinics needed more surgeons, nurses, supplies, and better sanitation and water.
GLBT and HIV/AIDS activists shared concerns for Haitians living with HIV/AIDS — and their inability to access treatment. About 120,000 Haitians — a conservative estimate — are living with the disease.
SEROvie, which provides HIV/AIDS services to the GLBT community in Haiti, was hosting a support group when the earthquake struck. “The sound is unforgettable,” said SEROvie director Steve La Guerre. “I can’t even describe the horror as the ceiling and the wall of the conference room started to fall.”
La Guerre said 14 men participating in the group died, two participants survived. “Light a candle for these souls and for Haiti,” he said, adding that SEROvie needs food, clothes “and any type of help.”
IGLHRC responded, raising about $10,000 in the first days following the quake. Aid for AIDS collected unused HIV drugs, as well as antibiotics, antivirals and antiallergics. Also, the Metropolitan Community Church established the Disaster Relief Fund to help the MCC congregation in the neighboring Dominican Republican, which has a number of Haitian members.
“The level of distress is indescribable,” said the Rev. Tania Guzman, pastor of the MCC church in the Dominican Republic.
“What we will need is both the spiritual and the physical support to rebuild lives and communities. There are no walls to tear down here; only the work of building up hope again.
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