LGBTIQ+ Community Claims Disaster Plan Exclusion
People of the LGBTIQ+ community are excluded from evacuation plans during natural disasters in Fiji, a study reveals. Amasai Jeke of Rainbow Pride Foundation said it was their job to see whether evacuation centres were going to be safe for members of their community.
Amasai was part of a discussion panel to talk on “Transgender Day of Remembrance” at Lotus Building at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in Nabua, Suva, yesterday.
“Especially for the LGBTIQ+ people because from our research that was done after Tropical Cyclone Winston, we found out that our LGBTIQ+ members were continuously left behind during humanitarian crises,” said Amasai.
“This is when we needed to help as human beings to carry out and to see that a few transgender women were scared to access the evacuation centres because they were told they could don’t stay with other women and they were not allowed to stay with men as well.
“So the trans women stayed in toilets and could not access evacuation centres.”
Amasai added that a group of lesbian women were also discriminated in evacuation centers.
“We want for humanitarian systems to be more inclusive and to have the LGBT community to be part of the policy process,” said Amasai.
“So that one can adhere how the policy can be more inclusive of the LGBTIQ+ community in terms of post-disaster.
“In addition, we want to highlight how transgender women who are also going through hormone therapy, how does hormonal therapy look like post disaster and how services can actually help them.” Amasai has called on for members of the community and LGBTIQ+ supporters to influencing policies. “We have further pushed recognition of 2013 Fijian Constitution on Section 26 of the LGBTIQ+ people to be implemented throughout the Government ministries and also within policies.”
Edited by Epineri Vula