A soccer World Cup in Qatar and a UN vote. What do they have in common? Both of them deny the rights of gay and lesbian people.
Queer decision number 1: Executions for homosexuals
In November, the South African representative to the UN voted with 78 other representatives to remove the clause “sexual orientation” from a resolution condemning extrajudicial and arbitrary executions. What does that mean? It means that this representative doesn’t want people to be subject to violence because of their race, nationality, ethnicity, religion or language. He doesn’t want them to be killed if they’re refugees, or indigenous people. But it’s OK for them to be arbitrarily executed if they’re gay.
The most obvious problem with this vote is that it is stupid, backward and wrong. There are also technical problems, for example, that our Constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. In addition the Civil Union Act made us fifth in the world to allow same sex marriages. What this vote says to the world is that at home we’re OK with the gays, we just don’t like the public to know we’re OK with them. It also says that we’ll put international interests (ie being friendly with other homophobic states in Africa) before the interests of South Africans.
Jerry Matjila, you’ve let us down. Your vote should be cast as null and void as it is unconstitutional, and I think it might do you some good to read our law and get a bit of the South African spirit of non-discrimination going before your next meeting.
Queer decision 2: No sex for gays during the 2022 World Cup
Sepp chose Qatar. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and you can face a sentence of five years in prison. When a brave journalist this week asked Sepp Blatter what he expected homosexual people who would like to come to the World Cup, but could be too afraid of the laws there, to do, his answer was “I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities”. He said it as though rights to sexual orientation were laughable. In 1995 an American visitor to Qatar was sentenced to six months in prison and 90 lashes for homosexual activity.
In the week of the Mother City Queer Project it’s disheartening to hear that again our country is legislatively liberal but our political representatives are backward. They learn this message right from the top. Our own president has in the past referred to gay marriage as a “disgrace to the nation and to God” and has said that when he was growing up he would not stand near to homosexuals. Our current minister of social development called a lesbian art exhibition “immoral, offensive and contrary to nation building”.
Government has shown us often that its interests can be bought for a nice World Cup, or a good cup of tea on one of Bob Mugabe’s 40 farms but enough is enough. The right to sexual orientation is crucial to meaningfulness of all our other constitutional rights. If we let them slide away, there is no stopping the slippery slope.
(Aside: Another thing you should know about Qatar is that men and women can dress how they would like to, as long as it is not provocative. I wouldn’t take the short shorts or skirts then, despite the sweltering heat.)
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