PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Tuesday July 23, 2013 – Organisers say they are pleased with the turnout on Friday as more than 1,000 people took to the streets here to protest homosexuality and a proposal to legalize gay marriage in Haiti.
The protesters carried anti-gay placards and chanted songs in which they threatened to burn down parliament if its members make same-sex marriage legal.
A Haitian gay rights group has said it plans to submit a proposal allowing homosexuals to wed, but a coalition of religious groups said it opposed recent laws in other countries supporting gay marriage.
The demonstration was organised by several religious groups, including one calling itself the Haitian Coalition of Religious and Moral Organizations.
It came 48 hours after watchdog groups held a news conference to condemn what they say is an increase in threats against homosexuals in the country.
Gay rights groups in Haiti say that members of the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community often don’t report rights violations to authorities out of fear of reprisal