Silence of the Gays
Written by: Lauren De Hart and Chrislynn Sias
In a world where so much is changing as people become more ‘enlightened’ and open to the idea that there are more than one type of sexuality, how is it that so many are moving backwards at the same time? And is the ignorance of governments and religions to blame?
Countries like Russia, Uganda and many militant religions are still supporting the notion that homosexuality is an ‘abomination’. We’d like to take a look at how this is causes such drastic measures as anti-gay laws, ‘praying the gay away’ and violent homophobic hate crimes. In particular, how is South Africa responding to the homophobic laws and atrocities committed in Uganda?
In fact, to keep the peace with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Zuma went so far as to state that ‘South Africa respects the sovereign rights of other countries to adopt their own legislation’. We even seem to be downright endorsing their stance by sending extremist homophobe and former Sunday Sun columnist Jon Qwelane to Uganda as South Africa’s High Commissioner!
I would say that this was just a strategy by the DA to curry favour and grab votes… were it not for the fact that the ANC seems to be conspicuously quiet on the matter and it’s apparent that President Jacob Zuma does not want to get involved.
Anti-Gay laws
Badges bearing the slogan ‘Love Uganda’ in the gay pride colours were handed out at a recent campaign held by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that formed part of the Cape Town Gay Pride Festival in Greenpoint in early March. DA officials encouraged passers-by to sign a petition against the anti-gay laws in Uganda and waved banners and placards claiming that African National Congress (ANC) does not care about gay people.
Qwelane has shown himself on numerous occasions to be openly homophobic and trans-phobic. He has expressed this stance in the controversial ‘Call me names, but Gay is not OK’ article in which he expressed support for Robert Mugabe’s brutal and oppressive treatment of LGBTI people in Zimbabwe. There is an open investigation as well as pending charges against Qwelane for hate speech before the South African Human Rights Commission in connection with this article.
The South African Bill of Rights states that an individual may not be discriminated against based on his/her sexuality. So how is it that a person who clearly does not uphold the views outlined in the Constitution is considered a viable representative of the State in any capacity.
It is utterly shocking that Qwelane was assigned this position of power when he supports the anti-homosexuality bill. This poses the question: who does Uganda have that is in a position to fight for minority rights? It seems to be a recipe for rebellion as citizens now have no choice but to take matters into their own hands as the legislation will attempt to punish people who fail to report homosexuals and activists working in the field of LGBTI rights. We sense a revolution on the horizon.
There is immense activism within and outside Uganda and enormous international condemnation from countries around the world. South Africa’s voice has been painfully absent from this outcry.
What all this basically means is that the man representing all the peoples of this country, Zuma, has announced that we, South Africa, respect Uganda’s decision that ‘gay offenders’ should be jailed for life! It seems ironic that south Africa (one of the first countries to legalise gay marriage and allow its citizens to enjoy equal privileges in that respect) rests on its proverbial laurels (apparently with the exception of the DA) while homosexuals in Uganda have to live in terror with life sentences hanging over their heads because they happen to love the same sex.
These are a few of the statements that the Ugandan president has made regarding gay people:
"They're disgusting. What sort of people are they? ... I never knew what they were doing. I've been told recently that what they do is terrible. Disgusting. But I was ready to ignore that if there was proof that that's how he is born: abnormal. But now the proof is not there."
Museveni even went so far as to incorporate a clause into the anti-gay bill that condemns anyone who counsels or reaches out to gay and lesbians to jail for being ‘homosexual sympathisers’. This means that any organisations and Civil Rights groups will have to either shut down or conduct their services and aid to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in secret.
After the signing of the bill, Museveni told CNN's reporter Zain Verjee that, in his opinion, being homosexual is ‘unnatural’ and not a human right.
A group of Ugandan government scientists were commissioned by Museveni to study whether homosexuality is ‘learned’ and they concluded that it is a matter of choice. The President announced, "I was regarding it as an inborn problem. ‘Genetic distortion’ - that was my argument. But now our scientists have knocked this one out." How accurate can those findings be as they were conducted by the Ugandan government scientists with a clear agenda?
Praying the Gay Away
The anti-gay churches of Uganda have certainly gotten what they’ve been praying for. The passing of the anti-homosexuality bill has been dubbed a ‘surprise Christmas present’ to Uganda’s huge and highly influential Pentecostal-charismatic community. The church is strategically aiming to influence the development of the next generation of political leaders to ‘shaping the ideas and values’ of Uganda as a God-fearing country. They aim to keep the country gay-hating by preaching the ‘evils of homosexuality’, thus ensuring that the Bill continues to hold support from the church. Pentecostal-charismatic churches are tapping into a deeply religious and easily influenced populous that provides a fertile ground for their strong opinions masked as good ‘Christian’ values.
Criminalised by the law, homosexuals are chillingly left with no protection against any violent crimes committed against them by members of the public or even armed forces such as police, whose duty is ironically to serve and protect.
Homophobic Hate Crimes
Following the passing of the bill, the frequency and degree of brutality of hate crimes against homosexuals have risen dramatically as they spread across the region. These beatings, threats, public humiliations and even murders do not emerge from nowhere. It is sadly overlooked that any political or religious statements that are made condemning homosexuality only serve to condone violence and encourage vigilantism.
The Crime of Silence
During Apartheid, the world boycotted South Africa in terms of trade and entertainment to show that it did NOT support the Nationalist regime and its racist violation of human rights… and yet we, as a ‘free’ country under the leadership of Zuma, are ‘respecting’ a decision taken by nearby African country to commit wrongs against its own citizens.