Charlot Jeudy

Since 2009, Charlot Jeudy had struggling with his friends to demonstrate the importance of an organizational structure that promotes LGBT rights in Haiti as he had been the victim of several acts of discrimination. The idea of AMIAMI originated with the primary goal of creating cultural events in the LGBT community. After 2 years, AMIAMI became KOURAJ[1] in December 2011, integrating other priorities such as the fight against homophobia and transphobia within Haitian society. Jeudy had the tenacity to make a first public statement in January 2012 on Haiti's national radio station, where he denounced Christians who advocated that it was "sins like homosexuality that were responsible for the January 12 earthquake". He was under pressure but persevered by planning another interview, this time on television, where he publicly stated that he was the president of KOURAJ, an organization defending the homosexual community. With the help of external partners, the first International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia was held in Haiti on May 17, 2012,[2] to raise awareness among the Haitian population of the need to respect sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2013 KOURAJ was led by a team of 7 people of which he was the president and 70 active members.

In an interview in 2016, Charlot Jeudy testified to the difficulty of being gay in Haiti on Radio-Canada.[3]

In the fall of 2016, Charlot Jeudy planned to launch the first Haitian edition of the Massimadi festival in Port-au-Prince. Massimadi Haiti was intended as an opportunity to present for the first time the realities of LGBTQ communities through films, exhibitions and discussions. It was based on a concept developed in 2009 by the Montreal-based organization Arc-en-ciel d'Afrique. Instead, the organisers must cancel everything, particularly because of the death threats to which some have been subjected, and the national turn and international media coverage of the subject in the news.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

On August 3, 2018, the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti unveiled a community-based intervention project led by LGBTI people. Its principle is to fight homophobia by promoting a culture of peace and positive values such as law, tolerance, equality, non-discrimination, respect for human life choices and human security. To this end, the MINUJUSTH Human Rights Section found a partner in the Kouraj association and its President Charlot Jeudy.[10]

On November 25, 2019, he was found dead at his home in Vivy Michel in the town of Pétion-Ville.[11] According to initial reports, Charlot Jeudy died of poisoning or strangulation. The full circumstances of Charlot Jeudy's death have yet to be clarified.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

The French[19] and American embassies[20] condemned the strange circumstances of his death and asked for an investigation.