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By Emy Padilla, from Tegucigalpa

In Honduras, where 68% of the 9 million people live in poverty and exclusion, deviating from heteronormativity can cost you your life. In the last week, two trans women and a lesbian were brutally murdered, and LGBTQ+ organizations are denouncing these as hate crimes.

Shakira , or “ La Moy ” as she was known, was a young trans woman who was stoned to death between midnight on Saturday, June 8, and the early hours of Sunday in the Oswaldo López Arellano neighborhood of Choloma, in the northern department of Cortés, one of the most violent areas of Honduras. Just 20 years old, Shakira was killed in the same neighborhood where she lived. Her body lay in the street for several hours before the terrified eyes of her neighbors, who called the police.

Witnesses to the event recounted that the crime was committed by some men who viciously threw stones at her until they killed her, Rihanna Ferrera, from the Cozumel Trans organization, told Presentes.

[READ ALSO: This is how trans migrants dream and die on the US border]

The LGBTQ+ activist said that several young men and women witnessed the incident, but that the police must investigate the case to ensure the crime does not go unpunished. “If we see it go unpunished, we will believe that the State is complicit, that is, that they are in favor of someone being killed,” she said.

The victim's body was taken to the morgue of the Public Ministry in the nearby city of San Pedro Sula, and no charges have yet been filed against his killer or killers.

As always, when approached by the media covering these events, the police, without hesitation or consideration, promised to bring justice in this case, which adds to the 317 other crimes reported in the last ten years.

Lesbian woman murdered

While the murder of Shakira was being discussed, the media in the Honduran capital were reporting on the discovery of the lifeless body of Karen Daniela Calix Cruz, an 18-year-old lesbian woman.

Karen was stabbed to death at midnight on Friday, June 7, on the slopes of Juan A. Laínez National Park, located in downtown Tegucigalpa. Her body was found Saturday morning, and according to witnesses, the crime was committed by two men who fled the scene. Police have not yet filed charges in the case, nor have they released any information about the whereabouts of the perpetrators.

Another trans girl

Crimes against the LGBTI community also include the murder of another trans woman on Sunday, June 2, in the community of San Francisco de los Valle, San Marcos, Quimistán, Santa Bárbara, in the western region. The 23-year-old victim was known as Fabiola.

Fabiola was murdered with a knife by her killers, who stabbed her multiple times in the neck. The incident occurred as she was leaving a party, Indyra Mendoza of the Cattrachas Network told Presentes.

When they found her, Fabiola was lying face down, her body covered in blood. Police have not filed charges nor released any information about who the perpetrator or perpetrators are.

Hate crimes

The murders of Shakira and Fabiola are similar in that both were carried out with extreme brutality. “The situation is deplorable because it reveals the hatred with which people from the LGBT community are murdered. In these two cases, for example, the victims were stoned to death, which demonstrates the high levels of discrimination and violence that the LGBT community experiences in the country,” Iván Banegas, a member of the Violeta Collective Association, told Presentes.

The recent crimes have a similar connotation to three cases recorded three years ago, when people from the LGBTI community were stoned to death.

The advocate for the rights of sexual diversity did not rule out that the perpetrators in the new cases are acting motivated by religious fundamentalism because stoning is a biblical form of justice.

[READ ALSO: Honduras: The trans candidate fighting against discrimination and violence]

Hate crimes and violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community increased following the 2009 coup, with 317 cases recorded since then, 92% of which remain unpunished, according to the Observatory of Violent Deaths of the LGBTI Community in Honduras, of the Cattrachas Lesbian Network.

The organization specifies that of the 317 cases, 180 belong to gay people, 37 to lesbians and 100 to trans people.

Organizations that defend the rights of the LGBTI community are working on a report to quantify the number of crimes committed against their members and demonstrate that there is an upward trend.

Religious fundamentalism and impunity

Impunity coupled with religious fundamentalism is fueling a continued rise in crimes against the LGBTI community. Last year, 27 cases were reported, and in 2017, when Honduras experienced a political crisis stemming from the elections, 34 cases were recorded.

This year, as a new wave of social unrest against the government is reported, 15 cases have already been registered and the number could increase, Banegas said, taking into account the three most recent crimes recorded in the span of a week.

Violence against sexual diversity has become more evident since October of last year, following the LGBTI community's legal actions before the Supreme Court of Justice, requesting same-sex marriage and adoption of minors by same-sex couples.

[READ ALSO: Honduran court rejects appeal for same-sex marriage ]

Members of the LGBTQ+ community filed a constitutional challenge against Article 112 of the Constitution of the Republic, regarding same-sex marriage, and Article 116 regarding adoption.

According to Iván Banegas, a member of the Violeta Collective Association, attacks on the LGBTI community increased after sexual diversity groups put their demands on the public agenda and presented them to state institutions, based on rights won in other countries.

According to LGBTI rights advocate Erik Martínez, violence against sexual diversity is linked to the ongoing political and social crisis in Honduras following the 2009 coup. As an example, Martínez cited that 22 crimes were recorded in just six months after the coup.

Hate speech

Subsequently, in 2012, 44 murders were recorded, coincidentally when the LGBTI community filed a discrimination complaint against the evangelical pastor, Evelio Reyes, a man with ties to economic and political power. The pastor maintained a discriminatory discourse toward LGBTQ+ individuals seeking elected office in the elections of that year.

In 2017, when electoral fraud was reported, there was another spike and 34 more cases were recorded.

Martínez stated that hate crimes are so notable because the victims are executed with cruelty, whether by stoning, beheading, burning, and there are people whose genitals have been cut off after they are already dead.

In conclusion, the advocate argued that these crimes occur during political crises because those in power want to send a message to the LGBTI community to stay out of the struggles and not demand their rights.

In Honduras, the LGBTI community is part of a large, vulnerable sector that has been cornered by religious fundamentalism, which, through the Catholic and Evangelical churches, dictates the public policy agenda. Whenever issues of advancing rights are raised, the ruling class summons pastors and priests to offer their moral and religious perspectives.

Without specialized research

Rights such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and adoption by same-sex couples are not part of the agenda of state institutions. In fact, in 2009, the sale of the Emergency Contraceptive Pill (ECP) was prohibited because it was considered "abortive," according to the claims of fundamentalist religious organizations.

In response to the surge in hate crimes against the LGBTI community, a special prosecutor's office was established within the Honduran Public Prosecutor's Office. However, it now operates within the Unit for Deaths of Persons Belonging to Vulnerable Social Groups, a branch of the Violent Deaths Unit. This unit investigates high-profile deaths related to femicides, crimes against justice officials, human rights defenders, and journalists, thus reducing the effectiveness of its prosecutors due to the heavy caseload.