Pretoria – South Africa will not tolerate homophobia, hate crimes and discrimination, says Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister John Jeffery.
“Our courts are sending the message that homophobia, hate crimes and discrimination will not be tolerated,” he said on Monday at the launch of the I Serve Equally campaign at Atteridgeville Community Hall, west of Pretoria.
Deputy Minister Jeffery said the campaign will raise awareness of the struggles of lesbians, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and inter-sex (LGBTI) people, who often face discrimination and experience secondary victimisation when they try to seek justice.
The Deputy Minister called on the community to fight against the ill-treatment of LGBTI people.
“The harassment and victimisation of LGBTI people will only stop if we keep sending a message of respect and acceptance of LGBTI people. Gay rights are human rights.
“Regardless of the colour of our skin, gender or sexual orientation, we all want the same things – respect, care, compassion and acceptance. We are all human beings,” he said.
Deputy Minister Jeffery said the campaign's intention is to foster the delivery of quality services to all people irrespective of sexual orientation, race and gender.
“All persons who face discrimination, hate crimes or violence should be afforded the same support and their matter should be treated with the same diligence,” he said.
The campaign was also launched in memory of the many hate crime victims in the LGBTI community and specifically in memory of Lesego “Small” Manganye, who committed suicide earlier this year after she was subjected to two incidents of rape.
Deputy Minister Jeffery interacted with Manganye’s and urged the community, civil society and public servants to work together to root out discrimination and violence directed at LGBTI people.
“To Mme Manganye, we feel your pain at the loss of your daughter. No parent should ever have to feel the loss of a child. No person, in a country such as ours, where we are supposed to embrace our freedoms, should ever have to feel such despair as Lesego had,” he said.
The campaign is an initiative of a non-governmental organisation called Access Chapter 2 and is supported by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Last year, the department launched the LGBTI Programme, which aims to promote partnership among government, civil society, business and the media in the fight against gender based violence and to encourage communities to report such crimes.
This followed the work of the National Task Team (NTT), which was set up in 2011, to develop a National Intervention Strategy that will be used as a guide to clamp down on violence against LGBTI people.
The campaign also aims to intensify the fight against prejudice by urging service providers such as the South African Police Service to serve LGBTI people equally.
LGBTI people around the world face discrimination, persecution and violence simply for expressing who they are and choose to love.
Consensual same-sex conduct is criminalised in more than 70 countries, with punishment including fines, flogging, and imprisonment and in seven countries, the death penalty. – SAnews.gov.za
