Although homosexuality between adults in private is decriminalized,[1] LGBTQ Dominicans still endure discrimination and violence due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
In a 2014 poll, almost three quarters, 73%, of people in the Dominican Republic alone have said that members of the LGBTQ community have experienced some sort of violence or discrimination.
Members of the LGBT Community in the Dominican Republic are victims of hate crimes, extortion by the police, and discrimination when it comes to resources and employment services.
[2] A local NGO counted 17 cases of police violence and discrimination against transgender women sex workers between December 2013 and October 2014.
[3]:6 In the early 2000s, the Dominican Gay-Lesbian Collective (Colectivo Gay-Lesbianas Dominicanas, GAYLESDOM) organized several LGBTQ events in the country.
They staffed a booth at the Book Fair (Feria del Libro) in Santo Domingo, where they distributed information on preventing STIs, including HIV.