Haiti

Same-sex relations have never been a crime in Haiti — the 1791 French penal text (applied to Saint-Domingue) carried no such ban, and independence in 1804 brought no new law on point. However, no recognition of marriage, civil unions or similar. In 2017 the Senate passed a bill to jail same-sex married couples (3 years + $8,000 fine) that did not become law. No anti-discrimination protections or legal gender change. Documented violence and corrective rape. Severe institutional crisis context · tourism practically nonexistent · travel discouraged by general country situation.

Population 11,5M Capital Puerto Príncipe Language Haitian Creole · French Currency Haitian Gourde (HTG)

LGBTQI+ legal framework · Haiti

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LGBT identity

Legal since 1791 · never criminalized

The 1791 French penal text — extended to Saint-Domingue — carried no ban on consensual same-sex acts · on independence in 1804 no replacement criminal statute was added

Partnership recognition

No recognition · 2017 criminalization attempt

No marriage, no civil unions · 2017 Senate attempt to jail married couples (3 years + $8,000) without becoming law · no joint adoption

Legal protection

No protections · no hate law

No anti-discrimination law · no hate crime law · the 2020 decree included sexual-orientation protection, but the new Penal Code adopted in 2025 (after pressure from evangelical churches) stripped those clauses from the final version

Trans rights

No legal gender change

No legal recognition of gender change · trans people can be fined under broadly written vagrancy law · high exposure to violence

Conversion therapies

No ban

No prohibition law · no mental health regulation for this practice

Social context · Haiti

Social acceptance

Conservative

Conservative · Vodou-Christian

Mostly Christian society (Catholic + evangelical + Adventist) with Vodou syncretism. Conservative regarding public sexuality. Political-institutional context in severe crisis.

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Anti-LGBT violence

High

High · documented corrective rape

Post-quake refugee camps logged sexual violence and so-called 'corrective' rape as a definitive problem. No legal protections or working complaint pathways exist.

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Indicative data as of 2026-05-18. Check the destination country's official sources before travelling.

Experiences
gay friendly · Haiti

Top-booked tours and activities, with instant booking via Viator.

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Recent
LGBT news · Haiti

Latest changes — new laws, rulings, events relevant to LGBTQI+ travelers.

JUN 01, 2025 · LEGAL

New Penal Code drops the 2020 decree's LGBT protections

After being postponed in June 2024 under pressure from evangelical churches, the new Penal Code was adopted in 2025, but the final version removed the sexual-orientation anti-discrimination clauses contained in the 2020 decree, a setback for the LGBTQI+ community amid a deep institutional crisis.