It’s sad to hear there are people who are against the members of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex and others+ (LGBTQIA+) community in our communities.
It is well known that people who are in same sex relationships are welcomed in this country. It’s shocking, after 30 years of democracy, to hear there are people who harass, attack, rape and kill them because of their sexual orientation.
As the country celebrated Youth Month in June, international LGBTQIA+ Pride Month was also being celebrated, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York and works to achieve justice and equal opportunity for lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgendered and queer Americans.
On Saturday 29 June, hundreds of members of LGBTQIA+ community marched in Langa to celebrate the milestone. They were supported by many people from various areas of the metro.
However, before the event I was disturbed by a letter circulating on social media allegedly written by one of the members of Langa religious fraternities complaining about the LGBTQIA+ community members for using Guga S’thebe as their venue.
Anele Gqasana, organiser of LGBTQIA+ Cultural Pride event, said he and others knew about the letter and know the person who wrote it. It seems as much as the government is trying by all means to educate our people about LGBTQIA+ community there is still stigma out there.
The letter was allegedly written by a well-known person in the community.
It may well be that one of her children or grandchildren is an “After Nine”, a person who dates someone of the opposite sex during the day, and dates those of the same sex at night). We need to be a little more observant of the principle of not judging others, because life can be complex, in which people find themselves making complex choices. Also, no one knows what the future holds, what fate has in store.
I remember the early ’90s when HIV/Aids was spreading rapidly. So many who had the virus and were being discriminated against. They were called names and accused of promiscuity until the accusers’ own family members were diagnosed, and only then did they make the effort to understand and be compassionate. This is when people started treating those living with the virus differently and understand that anyone can be affected by the disease, which doesn’t mean they have been misbehaving.
Too often children do not become what their parents wanted them to be. Well, if it happens then let it be.
Love and embrace your children. I don’t know why people hate gays and lesbians so much because they are such cool people. Whenever I meet them I make new friends.
I never heard of any of them committing crime in our societies. Instead it is our much-vaunted straight brothers and sisters who commit all the wrongdoings. Let’s stop interfering in other people’s business and focus on our own. This hostility towards gays and lesbians needs to cease and hatred be removed. How they make love is none of our business. Let’s stick to our own business and stop poking our nose in other people’s business.
