FORBIDDEN LOVE
There are a reported 8.8 million gay, lesbian and bisexual people living in the United States based on a survey done in 2006.( U. S Census) There are celebrities, family, friends, sons and daughters that are coming out of the closet to proclaim that their gay. The American culture can even find gay characters on television shows, movies and the popular reality show circuit. Although alternative lifestyles seem to be more accepted, there is still discrimination rearing its ugly head. Same sex marriages are not legal in all fifty states of the United States.
And sadly, in other parts of the world women are getting tortured and killed simply because of who they date or love. These hate crimes are on the rise in South Africa. This brutal act of violence is being termed as,“ corrective rape.” Some of the men in South Africa believe that the rape will cure the women of being lesbians.
Euday Simelane, star athlete of Banyana Banyana, national female football squad of South Africa, was found dead in a creek in Johannesburg. She had been gang raped, beaten and stabbed 25 times over her whole body. She was one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in Kwa Thema. Simelane was also an avid activist for equal rights and well liked. It is common for these attackers not to get punished for these vile acts of violence against lesbians. The South African Human Rights Activists are campaigning for” the system to recognize hate crimes, including corrective rape, as a separate crime category.”( Guardian News and Media Limited) Police in South Africa are simply turning the other cheek. The South African culture is known to oppress women and often times see them as merely sexual objects.
“ Triangle, a leading South African gay rights organization, revealed that a staggering 86 % of black lesbians from the Western Cape said they lived in fear of sexual assault. The group says it is dealing with up to 10 new cases of“ corrective rape” every week.”( Guardian News and Media Limited) There was also a double murder of a lesbian couple; Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Massooa in July 2007. The two were gang raped, beaten and shot to death. This incident brought about the 07-07-07 campaign. The group fights for women who are the targets of these attacks.
The Simelane case produced the first conviction for one of the three accused attackers. There were also more than 30 reported murders of lesbians within the last decade in South Africa. Most of the women feel as if the one conviction will not make a difference. The women who have proclaimed that they are lesbians are living in fear in South Africa. Discrimination and hatred is very much alive in South Africa. For more information on what you can do to fight for equality for lesbians in South Africa, visit www. triangle. org. za or email Triangle at info @ triangle. org. za.
By: Nsenga Wilson
22 LEZ ELEGANCE