Haiti LGBTQ leader’s death brings worries

Early in Thanksgiving week, the news came that the Haiti LGBTQ leader Charlot Jeudy was found dead in his home in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. He was 35. Concerns about foul play in his death and calls for thorough investigations have been raised since his body was discovered on Nov. 25.

The Associated Press reported it wasn’t immediately clear how Jeudy died, and police did not return calls for comment.

Jeudy was the head of a Haiti-based organization that worked to defend human rights for homosexuals and transgender people in the country and combat discrimination and violence. The organization is called Kouraj in Haitian Creole — which means courage in English.

According to the AP, Jeudy — an outspoken advocate against homophobia — was forced to cancel a Afro-Caribbean LGBTQ community festival in 2016 due to threats of violence.

The U.S.-based Haiti Advocacy Working Group coalition was one of the organizations praising Jeudy for his commitment and calling for an investigation into his death.

The AP reported that Haiti’s LGBTQ community remains mostly underground because of a strong social stigma, but unlike English-speaking Caribbean islands, there are no Haitian laws criminalizing homosexual relations.

However, a 2015 human rights report on Haiti by the U.S. State Department said “local attitudes remained hostile to outward” LGBTQ identification and expression, especially in the capital, said the AP.

The U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a statement on Jeudy’s “untimely passing,” his tireless advocacy for human rights and equality in Haiti and offered condolences to the late leader’s friends, family, and colleagues.

‘Toy Drive’ for Belize

The time is now to collect contributions for the annual Belize Toy Drive.

This holiday tradition, from Franz Richard “Butch” Fairweather of the Bellway financial services firm in Brooklyn, collects new unwrapped toys for children in Belize.

Toys can be dropped off through Dec. 16 at Bellway, 436 Fourth Ave. (between Eighth & Ninth Sts.)

For hours and information, call (718) 768-8370 or send email to belwayinc@aol.com.

Manley on economics, poverty

Late great Jamaica Prime Minister Michael Manley’s ideas on using “equality and justice to build a bridge to lift our communities out of poverty” are the subject of a talk in the Bronx next Sunday.

The “Bridge Out of Poverty” event — presented by the Jamaica Progressive

League on the 95th anniversary of Manley’s birth in 1924 — will be held at the JPL Headquarters, 2230 Light St., at 2 p.m.

Donation is $20. Call (718) 994-5496 to RSVP and get information.

An ‘Ole Time’ holiday

Braata Productions is making this Christmas season twice as nice by presenting its family-friendly “Ole Time Grand Market” of live music, dance, dramatic performances and vendors to the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Reggae entertainer Pluto Shervington and a Jonkanoo parade are also features of the 2019 “Market,” which begins on Dec. 14 in the Bronx at Harry Truman High School, 750 Baychester Ave (Co-op City) The vendors’ market opens at 5:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 7 p.m.

The two-borough affair continues on Dec. 15 at the Park Church Co-Op, 129 Russell St. in the Greenpoint neighborhood. The vendors’ market begins at 3:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 5 p.m.

For tickets, visit braataproductions.org.

Gifts for city’s needy kids

Getting new clothes and gifts for young residents of city homeless centers and other needy youngsters is the goal of the Caribbean American Center of New York’s fundraising Holiday Dance Party on Saturday in Brooklyn.

The BKLYN Commons event space, 495 Flatbush Ave., will host the center’s 21st annual holiday celebration, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

To purchase tickets, visit go to eventbrite.com and search for “CACNY Holiday Dance Party 2019.”

All funds raised at the Holiday Dance Party will be used to purchase new clothes and gifts for needy children. CACNY provides services to underserved minority youth.

Gymnast visits 2nd home

American gymnast Simone Biles, one of the most decorated athletes in the sport’s history, had a warm welcome last week in Belize, her “second home.”

According to the Belize Tourism Board, the 22-year-old received symbolic keys to San Pedro town during her visit.

Though born in Texas, Biles holds Belize citizenship through her mother, who hails from the country that sits on the Caribbean Sea and is a member of the CARICOM community of nations.

The brief Thanksgiving day ceremony for the gymnast took place at the start of a six-day private family vacation in the country.