Haiti

Consensual same-sex conduct is not criminalized in Haiti. However, there have been attempts to roll back the rights of LGBTIQ people. In 2017, the Senate passed a bill to ban same-sex marriage and public demonstration of support for LGBTIQ people’s human rights. It also passed laws to allow government officials to deny LGBTIQ Haitians a Certificate of Good Life and Morals, which many employers and universities require. These bills were not signed into law, so they remain unenforceable but are still indicative of widespread political antipathy toward sexual and gender minorities.

In 2020, the president decreed an amendment to Haiti’s penal code seeking to increase the penalties for crimes motivated by bias against the victim’s sexual orientation (Article 248) and to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation (Article 362). These provisions were met with significant pushback from religious organizations, and the amendments were delayed. In June 2025, a decree was adopted to publish the new penal code; however, the protections against hate crime and discrimination against LGBTIQ people that were present in the 2020 decree were removed. 

LGBTIQ organizations have developed and grown in visibility in recent years, working toward greater legal and social protection. However, ongoing political instability and gang violence hinder progress. The Catholic and Protestant Churches play strong cultural roles in Haiti, publicly condemning proposed advances in LGBTIQ protection and heavily influencing norms around gender and sexuality. Sexual and gender minorities experience harassment, discrimination, and violence. LGBTIQ people are also subjected to sexual violence by gang members, and “often targeted and singled out based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity,” with female victims being subjected to corrective rape. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that incidents of sexual violence by gang members against people of queer experience are largely underreported due to stigma.

Outright’s research shows that the lack of legal gender recognition exacerbates anti-trans discrimination in school settings in Haiti, contributing to economic precarity and negatively impacting their ability to get involved in trans advocacy. According to a 2022 UNDP report, intersex people in Haiti are also in a precarious position. They face stigma and prejudice and are viewed with shame and secrecy. Nonconsensual medical interventions on intersex children are allowed, leaving them vulnerable to violence. Access to medical care is unreliable.