The way home: LGBTQI people seek safety and community in the midst of the pandemic

In March 2020, the Government of Panama announced restrictions on movement to contain the spread of COVID-19. The first weeks of lockdown were an uncertain time, says Venus Tejada, president of the Panamanian Association of Trans People.  

Soon, Tejada’s phone was exploding with calls and chats from people asking about how to earn money to eat, how to get antiretroviral drugs, where to get an HIV test, how to go in for medical appointments, and how to report abuse, discrimination and violence against trans people in the Central American nation.

There was also another complication. The movement restrictions were based on gender, with women and men allowed to leave their homes on alternate days. This put non-binary and trans people at risk of heightened discrimination, as they could get stopped and questioned.

Tejada didn’t have many answers early on. After all, she herself was just as affected by the lockdown, and the situation was changing rapidly.

Other groups used an “e-care” or “cyber” approach in providing support to the LGBTQI community. For example, the Association of New Men and Women of Panama (Asociación Hombres y Mujeres Nuevos de Panamá, AHMNP, in Spanish) provided virtual counselling. Founded in 1996, this NGO was a pioneer in defending LGBTQI rights in Panama.

Amid the pandemic, UNAIDS, UNDP, and UNFPA have been working hand in hand in providing support in the form of personal protective equipment and other medical equipment and supplies, especially for people living with HIV in Panama.

Fleeing home in search of safety

In Guatemala, another Central American country, a lesbian couple, Paula and Ana (names changed for their safety), were living with their teenage daughter and preteen son. But then a criminal gang targeted the teens. Instantly, and the family fled for their lives. Without bus fare, they walked for three days, finally reaching southern Mexico.

“Paula’s feet were covered in cuts and were bleeding after walking across Guatemala,” Ana explains.

Once in Mexico, the lesbian couple, Paula, 32, and Ana, 40, and their teenage children slept on the street until they reached a shelter — where Paula was harassed by a man demanding to know whether she was a man or a woman.

A few days later, their luck changed, and a Mexican family in a rural community welcomed the family, offering them water and a hot meal. In turn, Paula and Ana share the aid they receive from UNHCR with their Mexican hosts.

According to UNHCR, many LGBTQI people around the world are forced to run for their lives, just as Paula and Ana did. Mexico recognizes gender as a standalone reason for a person to claim asylum. After a dip in the rate of asylum claims in Mexico in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people fleeing Central America is rising again. They come mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where gang violence exacerbated by COVID-19 and natural disasters have made life unbearable for many.

UNHCR works alongside government partners to support people who have fled because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and have a high chance of receiving protection. IOM, UNHCR, UN Women, UNICEF and UNFPA and other UN entities and outside partners are advocating for human rights protection and regional cooperation when assisting migrants, asylum seekers and other people on the move.

“We like it here,” says Ana, who now lives in a country house with a mango tree in the yard, and some hens, a duck and a pig. “It’s a better place to bring up our children,” Ana adds. Someday the couple hope to get married in Mexico City, one of 18 of Mexico’s 31 states where same-sex couples can wed.

“Our kids say they have two mothers,” she says. “Nobody bothers them. They don’t discriminate.”

Advancing together around the world

It’s not only in Panama, Guatemala and Mexico where LGBTQI people are facing discrimination.

Deep-rooted inequalities worldwide and criminalization laws in 70 countries have increased the risk of police abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention during curfews and hindered meaningful data collection. Some countries are using the pandemic as an excuse for persecution. Despite their poor treatment at the hands of the larger society, members of the LGBTQI community have also made remarkable gestures of solidarity during the pandemic.

The UN family, governments across the world, community-based organizations, and other partners are working hand-in-hand to ensure that the needs of the LGBTQI community are met, their voices are heard, and their demands are taken into consideration or fulfilled, even amidst the pandemic.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse people, who are disproportionately represented in the ranks of the poor, the homeless, and those without healthcare, will be deeply impacted by the pandemic,” says the Costa Rican expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz, in a joint statement signed by a total of 96 UN and international human rights experts.

“[U]nless we take urgent action,” the statement continues, “this impact will be felt over generations.”

Based on stories by UNCT Panama, UNHCR, UN News and OHCHR. Written by Carolina Lorenzo, Development Coordination Office, with editorial support by Paul VanDeCarr, Development Coordination Office. To learn more about the results of our work in this area and beyond, please visit the UNSDG Chair Report on DCO.