Queerness Is an Essential Part of Haiti’s Story

In January, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti near Port-Au-Prince, devastating the area and claiming over 100,000 lives. Amid the grief and chaos, conservative religious and political groups revived a dangerous narrative that many Haitians cling to: that this natural disaster was a punishment for the unnatural behavior of the people in Haiti who identify as queer or trans. The fight for the recognition and acceptance of queer and trans Haitian identities is not new. We have sought equal rights and consideration from the heights of the governing bodies of our homeland for as long as we have existed. The reality is that our heritage—our ancestry—stretches far beyond the rigid mindsets that cast us as demons, beyond the superstitions that blame our country’s struggles on our existence rather than on the powers truly working to take advantage of our nation.

My novel, Devil of the Deep, is set in a version of Haiti where queer identities are firmly integrated into society. The titular character, Nnenna Delahaye, is a pansexual pirate captain who forms romantic relationships with other characters regardless of their gender. Nnenna’s adversary, Lu Ortega, is trans and, while his identity causes friction between himself and his father, he finds acceptance from his chosen family. Nnenna’s sexuality and Lu’s gender identity are presented as much as a matter of fact as their identity as Haitians. This representation is intentional for queer Haitians to see themselves normalized in stories of Haiti and to challenge those who refuse to accept our existence.

To know queer and trans Haitians is to understand that we are human. Because of the stigma that continues to plague us, most people will only have the opportunity to get to know us through words on the page. This list of Haitian characters who are undeniably queer, trans, or both, is a starting point for the intentional reader. The featured stories span a variety of genres in fiction, showcasing characters from all walks of Haitian life. To read our stories is to know us, and to know us is to love us.

Amelie & Marie Francoise: Ayiti by Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay’s debut collection of short stories brings to light the realities of what it means to be a part of the Haitian diaspora. It contains 16 vignettes, nestled among which is the story of Amelie and Marie Francoise in “Of Ghosts and Shadows.” The women are lovers forced to keep the true nature of their relationship a secret in order to maintain their places in Haitian society. Still, the people in their lives seem to know that they desire each other and this creates a fine line of tension that all the characters walk: As long as Amelie and Marie Francoise’s desire remains a suggestion, so too will remain the violence that their countrymen reserve for things they do not understand.

Sonia & Dieudonné: What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy

What Storm, What Thunder sheds light on the real voices of those impacted by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shattered Port-Au-Prince in 2010. Sonia and Dieudonné are among the 10 Haitian characters whose lives are forever changed by the earthquake. Sonia, a sex worker, is also queer, which she reveals to Dieudonné in code by stating she is “M” (for masisi, the established term amongst Haiti’s queer folk). Dieudonné is also “M” and, as though the unspoken lifetimes of common experience is all they need, they become business partners: Dieudonné acts as Sonia’s protector as she sleeps with wealthy men in hotel rooms. They share their dreams with each other—for Sonia, the independence of being a wealthy man’s mistress, and for Dieudonné, the comfort and safety of a house in the hills—and dare to chase them when they have nothing left to lose.

Aline Cajuste: The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat

Edwige Danicat’s The Dew Breaker is a collection of intertwining stories of Haitians in America whose lives were impacted by the despotic Duvalier regime. Tradition clashes with modernity in the story of Aline Cajuste, a young Haitian journalism intern, meeting Beatrice, an elderly seamstress. Both characters exist within the Haitian diaspora of New York, but the vast differences in their experiences create tension. Beatrice left Haiti to escape political terror; Aline was born in the United States and has only lived among Haitians in America. Beatrice is prim and values quality of experience, a holdover from her life as a woman in Haiti in the midcentury. Aline is privileged and bothered by Beatrice’s seeming indifference to her time. Despite these differences, they have one thing in common: Both are freighted with the realities of being Haitian. Beatrice is haunted by the spectre of a man who once terrorized her. Aline is in a secret relationship with a woman 30-plus years her senior.

Etienne Galois: The Best Man’s Problem by Sera Taíno

Sera Taíno’s The Best Man’s Problem is an honest to goodness romantic comedy in which opposites, Etienne Galois and Rafael Navarro, try and fail to fight their attraction for each other. Etienne is a seemingly carefree photographer who lives life by the seat of his pants. He is Haitian, he is gay, he is beloved by his family. The greatest trauma he experiences is very nearly losing the love of his life when their different approaches to living lead to a seemingly insurmountable conflict. Etienne is an aspirational representation of what life could be like for queer Haitians absent the trauma of homophobia.

Sylvie De Rosiers: Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak

Sylvie De Rosiers is the child of an enslaved Haitian mother she never knew and a French coffee plantation owner. She lives with all the privilege afforded to the free daughter of a wealthy aristocrat in the colony of Saint-Domingue until cries for revolution send her family fleeing to France. Her escape from danger is short-lived—France’s own revolution is brewing and Sylvie’s neighbors are Cornelie Duplay, eldest daughter of the Duplay family, and the radical revolutionary staying with them, Maximillien Robespierre. Sylvie becomes politically and romantically involved with both Duplay and Robespierre, adding explicit, unchallenged bisexual representation to a narrative that explores themes of race and privilege.

Miriam: Erzulie’s Skirt by Ana-Maurine Lara

In this deeply intimate novel, Lara explores a fast friendship that becomes a lifelong love between two women of Haitian and Dominican descent living in the Dominican Republic. Miriam comes from a family of Haitian immigrant plantation workers. Micaela’s Dominican family owns a small farm. Both women struggle with the violence and poverty of rural life, and it is tragedy that inspires them to leave their respective homes. When Miriam’s parents die in an accident, she and the father of her unborn child leave for the city and make a home together in a slum of San Cristobal. There, Miram meets Micaela, who has been banished from her family home by her mother, who blames her for the death of her younger brother. They seek solace in each other and in Vodou practice—a departure from their Christian upbringings—and dream of a better life in which they are free to be together.

Pita: Bad Kreyòl by Dominique Morisseau

Bad Kreyòl is a play that tells the story of cousins, Haitian-American Simone and Haitian Gigi, who represent two sides of a family divided by time and geography. At the behest of their shared grandmother, whose dying wish was that the family reunite, Simone goes to Port-Au-Prince in search of her cousin. Gigi owns a boutique there and is protecting her gay assistant, Pita, by lending him her family name. When the cousins reconnect, it’s Pita’s desire to join Kouraj, the largest LGBT rights activist group in Haiti, that creates a core tension between them—Simone supports Pita in following his dream, but Gigi fears for his safety.