The murder of three transgender women in Honduras this month has raised fears that a push for LGBT rights in the country has prompted a backlash. Bessy Ferrera, a 40-year-old LGBT rights activist, was gunned down by unknown assailants early on July 8 in the capital Tegucigalpa. Santi Carvajal, a trans TV show host, was shot on July 5 and died a day later in the northern city of Puerto Cortes, and a third trans woman was killed in the city of El Negrito on July 3, local media reported. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people encounter persistent abuse and harassment in Honduras, where gay marriage is illegal and gangs rule lawless city neighbourhoods. Activists last year mounted legal challenges to bans on gay marriage and adoption, and developed a proposal with support from the human rights ministry for a law that would allow trans people to change their gender identity legally. But the spate of murders has many fearing for their lives.