Three LGBTQ+ People Were Killed in Honduras on Same Day

Last Wednesday three LGBTQ+ people were killed in Honduras. Two of the three were romantic partners.

Jonathan Gabriel Martinez and his partner, Cesar Gustavo Zuniga, were killed in San Pedro Sula's Ticamaya neighborhood, reports local media outlet Reportar sin Miedo.

The outlet reports that witnesses said men in police officer uniforms killed the couple at the liquor store that Jonathan Martinez owned, according to the Washington Blade. Reportar Sin Miedo reports a customer at the store died in the gunfire.

The same day Maria Fernanda Martinez was shot to death in La Libertad, a municipality in Comayagua, which Reportar sin Miedo notes is in the middle of the country. Her mother posted about her death on social media and wrote that Maria Martinez had attempted to move to the U.S., but was only able to travel to Mexico before she was deported for being a minor.

Maria Martinez was shot more than 10 times, according to her mother's post.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights' Honduras office denounced the killings. In a Twitter thread, it called on authorities to investigate the killings and to determine if they constituted hate crimes.

"The office expresses its concern over the attacks, threats, and harassment that LGBTI people in the country face," reads a statement on the office's Twitter page. "The Honduran state must guarantee truth, justice, and reparation for these crimes and ensure they don't happen again."

Cattrachas, a lesbian feminist human rights group in Honduras's capital of Tegucigalpa, said 405 LGBTQ people have been reported killed in the country since 2009, according to the Blade.

Earlier this year, trans activist Thalia Rodriguez was killed outside her home. The Blade reports that a gang member has been arrested in connection with her murder.

Five LGBTQ+ have been killed so far in 2022 in Honduras, according to Reportar sin Miedo.