JUNE 7 . 2003 • Q-NOTES
State-sponsored homophobia in South Africa
Abuses and culture of intolerance
documented, despite being first
country to include anti-bias edict in
its after-apartheid Constitution
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe
described gays and lesbians as 'worse than
dogs and pigs.'
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — Many
leaders in southern Africa have singled out
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peo
ple as scapegoats for their countries’ prob
lems, Human Rights Watch and the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission said.
The two international human rights moni
toring organizations released a new book-
length report. More Than a Name: State-
Sponsored Homophobia and its Consequences in
Southern Africa. The 298-page report docu
ments pervasive harassment and violence
against sexual minorities in Botswana,
Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“LGBT people have been vilified by presi
dents and political leaders, which has led to
a culture of intolerance," said Paula
Ettelbrick, executive director of IGLHRC.
"These attacks arc just the first step in
creating ,a climate in which all rights
are at risk."
The report documents verbal
attacks, police harassment, official
crackdowns and community violence
aimed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people. Victims have been
assaulted, imprisoned, expelled from
schools, fired from jobs, denied access
to medical care, evicted from their
home, and driven into exile or, in some
cases, to suicide.
"When Southern African political
leaders like President Robert Mugabe
of Zimbabwe make speeches saying
that gays and lesbians arc ‘worse than
dogs and pigs’ it should bo no surprise
that violent attacks follow,” said Scott Long,
HRW co-author of the report.
The report also examines South Africa,
which in 1996, newly freed from apartheid,
became the first country in the world to pro
hibit discrimination based on sexual orienta
tion in its constitution. Based on interviews
with numerous individuals and activists, the
report concludes that the equality guaran
teed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people is fragile, and even endangered by the
silence and foot-dragging of political leaders
in South Africa.
Human Rights Watch and IGLHRC called
on the governments of all five countries to
refrain from promoting intolerance and from
inciting discrimination and abuse.
Other recommendations include:
• Repealing laws — including sodomy
laws — which violate human rights,
rights to privacy and freedom of
expression:
• Enacting positive protections against dis
crimination:
• Publicizing and promoting awareness of
rights protections and how to use
them: and
• Creating mechanisms to address discrimi
nation and abuse of lesbian, gay, bisex
ual and transgendcr people.
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