prejudices against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are no exception. Adolescent girls who are lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex may also face difficulties in disasters. In some societies, homosexuality is illegal or unrecognised, and young lesbians and gays already struggle with the discrimination they face in coming out; a struggle that is not made easier in a disaster. For young men and women who know they are not heterosexual, or who are finding out about their sexuality, adolescence can be a difficult and confusing time. Documents produced by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) make no mention of the needs of LGBTI people. Nor do the disaster and crisis relief protocols of UNAIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/ AIDS. One study in Nepal notes: “Relief efforts typically use the family as a common unit for analysing and distributing relief services. As a result, relief aid rarely extends to LGBTI people. LGBTI people are vulnerable to being forced out of their family living situations as a result of stigma and prejudice. For those who live with their families, prejudice inside the family unit can mean that LGBTI family members receive less material aid inside the household.” On the other hand, the impact of a disaster can sometimes lead to a re evaluation of young women’s lives and a new confidence in their sexual orientation and gender identity and in who they are and what they want to do.
Kazol. prepare: we store dry food and firewood. We make a list of doctors with their phone numbers; we use that list during the flood if needed. We also plan how to rescue people with disabilities during a flood and where to take them to a shelter, with accessible toilets. Before these committees, we were very vulnerable. When the area was affected by flood, nobody bothered about the person with disabilities; we were totally neglected and helpless as there is always a rush for leaving. But now we have made a list of persons with disabilities in the area. We know in which place the person with disabilities is living so we can take immediate steps to evacuate them. I was always afraid when there was a prospect of flooding but now we know what to do, so I’m not afraid anymore. If there is a flood, I can face it. I feel proud with my role in the community: people didn’t know what to do and now I’m there to help them learn. I feel good!”
Marching for gay Pride in nepal.
“When the district leaders came to hand out food supplies, my family got half of what other families got. They told my parents that they didn’t need to feed me, and that the family didn’t deserve the full portion because they had a child like me.” Manosh, who lives in a village in Nepal and identifies as a meti or male-bodied feminine person, often categorised as ‘gay’ or ‘transgender’40 We know that existing prejudices tend to be played out in disasters, and
P i E r s B E n ata r /Pa n o s P i C t u r E s
‘They told my parents they didn’t need to feed me’ – discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
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