(Port-au-Prince) Several thousand faithful of Protestant churches marched on Sunday in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, against the new Penal Code which they deem “immoral” because it penalizes in particular discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Posted on 26 July 2020 at 16 h 14
France Media Agency
“If a pastor does not want to marry two men together or two women, he will be arrested and risk one to three years in prison”, wrongly assures Pastor Wismond Jeune, who wears a mask on which appears the slogan of the march, “No to immorality, long live the family”.
PHOTO GOD NALIO CHERY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new Penal Code does not modify the content of the Haitian Civil Code which legislates on marriage and only authorizes the union of a man and a woman.
The addition of the words “sexual orientation” to the list of criteria for criminally condemnable discrimination was enough to arouse the anger of the conservatives, who also misunderstand the articles sanctioning incest and bestiality.
“The president imposes laws on us which will lead us to perdition, laws which will destroy us like Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. In Haiti, it is not our custom for two boys to marry, for two girls to marry or for a human to marry an animal “, hammers, bible in hand, Pastor Elinor Cadet.
PHOTO GOD NALIO CHERY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
If these two pastors assure that they are not against homosexuals, many faithful, who sang and danced for hours under a blazing sun, testified to their radical homophobia.
“We don't accept this filth. We know that there are homosexuals in the country, but we must not give them papers: they are supposed to stay under the table, “said a woman, in her forties, refusing to identify herself.
Published by presidential decree due to the lack of a functioning parliament, the Penal Code constitutes a new source of Haitians' anger against the Head of State Jovenel Moïse, target of numerous homophobic insults launched by the procession Sunday.
The new Penal Code can still be repealed by the next parliamentarians before it comes into force in two years.
His more than 924 articles have been developed over the past two decades in order to modernize Haitian justice, still delivered today 'hui according to a penal code dating from 1835, largely inspired by the Napoleon code.
