Honduran LGBTT activist and coup resistor Walter Tróchez killed

December 16, 2009

Honduran LGBTT activist and coup resistor Walter Tróchez killed

Prominant LGBTT activist Walter Tróchez was assassinated by gunmen in Tegucigalpa on Sunday, marking the 10th murder of a gay or trans activist since the June 28 military coup.

According to journalist Dina Meza, police did not visit the scene of the killing until more than 12 hours after Tróchez was killed. Meza wrote that his murder is "being managed with all the negligence possible by police investigators."

Tróchez was kidnapped and beaten on December 4, but managed to escape. According to sources close to Tróchez, police did not investigate the kidnapping.

From a letter Tróchez wrote less than a month before his death:

“For their part, the LGBTT Rainbow Association, TTT Collective of San Pedro Sula and human-rights activists and defenders, publicly express their outrage that since June 29 this year, [and even] in the hours prior to the coup, there has been an increase in hate- and homophobic crimes promoted by the Honduran religious hierarchy in collusion with oppressive groups such as the Armed Forces, the National Security Secretariat, private enterprise, pro-life groups, and Opus Dei. These crimes once again make evident the high levels of hate, stigmatization and discrimination against sexually diverse people—what we call homophobia, lesbophobia, bi-phobia and especially transgender-phobia—targeting those of us who have a sexual identity or orientation different from the conventional heterosexual norm. On the occasion of the loss of two more women friends this past week, we repeat, IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE to have had, in these last 4 months, in such a brief period of time, 9 trans compañeras and gay compañeros murdered in such a cruel and inhuman manner, 6 of them in the San Pedro Sula sector and 3 in the city of Tegucigalpa.”

Tróchez was revered and loved in the Honduran resistance movement. His commitment to justice touched many, and will continue to resound in Honduras.