Soweto Pride launched

TO ENSURE the LGBTQI+ community is included in the drive for equality, the City of Johannesburg officially launched the Soweto Pride celebration last week.

It follows the signing of an official memorandum of understanding between pride organisations and the City of Johannesburg.

Group corporate and shared services MMC Loyiso Masuku said the city was creating a safe space for the LGBTQI+ community.

“In our endeavour to confront homophobia and discrimination experienced by the queer community, the City of Johannesburg is very clear on the stance of showing so that our voice is heard, but most importantly, so that citizens of Johannesburg who belong to the queer community never feel ostracised and never feel like they are lesser citizens of this great city.

“We are all people with equal rights, as enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Masuku said.

Health and Social Development MMC Eunice Mgcina said gender-based violence (GBV) had greatly affected the country and city, and every aspect of life.

“This pandemic is deeply entrenched in institutions, cultures and the LGBTQI+ community. GBV in the LGBTQI+ community is exacerbated by cultural and religious stereotypes and perpetuates negative attitudes in society,” she said.

Mgcina said the country and city must bury their heads in shame as GBV incidents were happening, although South Africa’s Constitution was one of the first in the world to protect people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation, and this was the first country in Africa to legalise same-sex marriages.

“Therefore, as a starting point, we as the city believe that more needs to be done to eradicate these crimes, and this launch is one such effort.”

Mgcina said the city had initiated a process of developing the terms of reference for the establishment of an LGBTQI+ community committee with the intention of setting up a desk responsible for LGBTQI+ related matters.

“This was over and above our efforts to continue raising awareness of their vulnerability. The advisory committee will also advise us on which format and which direction to take for the advancement for this community.

“We are taking this circumspect approach and not imposing what we think is good for the LGBTQI+ community. This is going to be an inclusive process, and we are dedicated to the advancement of human rights,” Mgcina said.

Soweto Pride is a project that was initiated by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (Few) in 2004 with the aim of creating and making political and social space for black lesbian women to create visibility and amplify the voices of these women and engage with the community.

Acting director of Few, Nomfundo Ndaba, said not being heard and treated with dignity “hampers our odds of success because we are sexually different, and if that is the reason why we are not included, then we have our work cut out for us”.

“We are, therefore, extremely honoured to be part of this partnership,” she said. |