Lesbian Rights and Hate Crimes in South Africa

Same-sex sexual activity between women has never been illegal in South Africa. The Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination based on sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. LGBT people are allowed to donate blood and serve openly in the military. South Africa was the 5th country in the world and the first and only in Africa to legalize same-sex marriage on December 1, 2006. Same-sex couples are allowed to adopt children jointly.

So, why do gay Africans continue to face brutal homophobic violence? Why do people feel threatened by homosexuality?!

Lesbian community members are at greater risk of being assaulted because they are women. Thousands of lesbian, bisexual, trans and even straight women across the African continent live every day in fear of being beaten, raped and murdered.

The situation in SA is truly disturbing. The attacks against lesbians sharply increased. The terrifying murders of young lesbian women in the past few months have shocked us all. The Community demands justice. We need to take actions to ensure safety of our black lesbian sisters and prevent new hate crimes. Share this and stand up for the South Africa's Lesbian Community. Your voice can make a difference in many lives.

Gone, but will never be forgotten.

Nonki Smous, 28

killed and burned while going to church in Kroonstad

                                                                         

Noluvo 'Vovo' Swelindawo, 22

abducted and shot dead in Driftsands, Cape Town

LGBTQ activist

Lerato 'Tambai' Moloi, 27

stabbed with knife, raped and stoned to death in Naledi, Soweto

Hello, I just joined Blogger!

Actually, I'm not good at writing and I'm still not good enough at English. Besides, I have no enough time to improve my writing skills. I work hard and prefer actions over words but I have to admit that words can also make positive changes in the world. One shouldn't underestimate the importance of social media and networking. We can get in touch with people from all over the world, stay updated with the current events, share our thoughts, joyful moments and troubles, support each other, promote human rights and make a positive impact on the development of sexual rights and the LGBTIQ movement worldwide. You can do it as well.

So, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below each blog post. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

As I said before, my work keeps me quite busy, so I'm going to share the most important issues concerning our community and human rights. I will share the links to my blog posts on twitter.com/JoeyGMueller so you will not be able to miss the updates.