In the South African case of Zoliswa Nkonyana, it took five years and forty postponements for courts to find four men guilty of beating, stoning, and stabbing her to death for being a lesbian. Now their sentencing has been postponed, which I imagine surprised few cynics watching the case. Bravo to activists in South Africa and to Mamba Online for shining a spotlight on this disgraceful state of affairs.

South African gay news site Mamba Online reports that Pastor Oscar Peter Bougardt is sending death threats via email to LGBT websites and rallying his followers to “take out [kill] lesbians and gays.”

“Lesbians and gays are a curse on any community. I believe that a man that sleeps with another man doesn’t deserve to be part of a healthy community and I will mobilise the masses to stop them,” Bougardt said.

While many people have become accustomed to reading about death-chanting mob churches in Jamaica and Uganda, it’s less common and a bit alarming to see such a development underway in South Africa.

When challenged by Mamba Online to explain this threat, Bougardt waffled.

“If I say take out homosexuals, I mean they must be removed from our communities…You interpret that I am inciting violence against homosexuals, I see it is making our people aware that their lifestyles should not be approved by any healthy community. Just as homosexuals have the right to express their views, I have the right to express mine,” he said.

Like so many antigay activists, Bougardt vainly believes that God exempts him from having to show academic or scientific support for his claims that homosexuals are abominable, child-molesting, hetero-recruiting drug addicts.

“Where I stay you don’t need academic, government or scientific statistics,” he said, adding that “homosexuality is spreading faster than HIV and AIDS.”

When Christian leaders such as renowned Archbishop Desmond Tutu reject his hatred and affirm equality for LGBT people, Bougardt vainly damns them to hell.

“Desmond Tutu will burn in hell for misleading homosexuals and for saying God don’t have a problem with them. I don’t care what Desmond Tutu have to say, nowhere in the Bible are we told to expect homosexuals. The Bible teaches they are an abomination to God.”

Public reaction is still early in development.

Exodus Global Alliance silently enables people like Bougardt as a matter of policy.

Meanwhile, LGBT activist Christina Engela of SA GLAAD reflects on Bougardt’s graceless idolization of hate, and the need for Christians to publicly speak out against the bigots and violence-doers in their midst. A South African constitutional rights blogger argues that equality advocates (and especially affirming clergy) should overwhelm Bougardt’s hate speech with constructive public speech and expression.

My first reaction to someone like this is to follow the money. Someone from abroad is likely to be funding this seemingly violent and irrational man and his church via his bank account, and I would like very much to know who.

Meantime, people can protest his presence on Facebook, his Blogspot blogs, LinkedIn, and Google Plus. But this wicked and irrational man is unlikely to be humbled until more U.S. and African Christians find the courage to stand up for equality, obstruct financing of such pastors, and repudiate colleagues who practice hatred and pander to the world’s wealthy antigay opportunists.

Ian Ollis, a member of the South African parliament, paints a sobering picture of LGBTQs’ legal and cultural status on the African continent. Recall that parts of Nigeria are under sharia law, which calls for people convicted of homosexual activity to be stoned to death. Cameroon is arresting people with a Y chromosome for looking feminine, and may soon change its laws to equate homosexuality with pedophilia. According to Amnesty International, one Cameroonian man, thrown in jail for homosexual activity, has been abandoned by his family, which has decided he is a “wizard.” Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe unabashedly trashes homosexuals at state events.

In other words, the same tired hatreds and mindless canards that the LGBTQ rights movement is gradually overcoming in the US still hold terrible power over people’s lives in many countries in Africa.

South Africa is leading the charge against bigotry on at least one front. Ollis applauds his own country’s introduction of a UN Human Rights Council resolution supporting equal rights for people of all sexual orientations. South Africa apparently pissed off a lot of other African countries in doing this, including Cameroon and stone-throwing Nigeria; the Egypt delegation walked out. But it passed–23 votes to 19. An awful lot of culture change needs to take place before gays are safe in Africa.

SIGN PETITION HERE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 13, 2011

Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118
Email: wbesen@truthwinsout.org

Historic ‘Teach-In’ To Occur Outside SBC Meeting on Wednesday at Phoenix Convention Center

WHAT: A coalition of local and national LGBT activists will hand-deliver a petition to leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention at their annual meeting calling on the SBC to apologize for the harm its teachings have caused the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Prior to delivering the petition, an historic ‘Teach-In’ will take place outside of the SBC’s convention.

WHO: The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, 1 Voice, Believe OutLoud, Faith in America, GetEqual, Soulforce and Truth Wins Out

WHERE: The Phoenix Convention Center
10:30AM

BACKGROUND: Wednesday, June 15 marks the 16th anniversary of the SBC’s historic apology to African Americans for supporting slavery and Jim Crow laws. Now it is time the SBC apologizes to the LGBT community. The Southern Baptist Convention is one of the nation’s leading promoters of the so-called “ex-gay” industry, which browbeats people into attempting to “pray away the gay.” Bob Stith, national strategist for gender issues and the representative of the Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals, leads the SBC’s “ex-gay” program.  Last week, Stith harshly criticized President Barack Obama for issuing a “Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month” proclamation.

“We call on the Southern Baptist Convention to stop misusing the Bible to promote religion-based bigotry and start recognizing the enormous pain and suffering caused by its mistreatment of LGBT people, particularly vulnerable youth,” said Dr. Jack McKinney, a heterosexual, married, former Southern Baptist minister and spokesperson for Faith in America. “History has not been kind to the Southern Baptist Convention’s record on minorities and it is making the same awful mistake today by perpetuating abuse against gay people.”

“The anti-gay teachings of the Southern Baptist church nearly led me to suicide,” said Dr. Jerry Stephenson, a former Southern Baptist minister and board member for Truth Wins Out. “I entered an ‘ex-gay’ ministry that falsely claimed I could change my sexual orientation and this led to a deep depression. Only after I accepted my true self was I able to reconcile my faith and sexual orientation. The Southern Baptist Convention needs to apologize because its policies are hurting real people.”

Desmond Tutu is so awesome, and he’s such a voice of moral authority that he’s pretty hard to argue with.  Of course, some will, but they’re in way over their heads.  He’s written an open letter in Essence speaking out against the worldwide persecution and bullying of LGBT people.  Here’s the first couple of paragraphs, and then click over to read the rest:

Today I pray for people in Africa and throughout the world who long for freedom because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. It grieves me to be retiring at this crucial moment in history, so I write to you in this open letter, to invite you to pick up the work that remains to be done. More than 70 countries still imprison or execute gay and transgender people, and bullying and murders are all too common. This must change.

Each of you is called to respond to God’s urgency for love and life. So whether you are in South Africa, the United States or anywhere else, humanity needs to accept its own diversity as a gift from our Creator. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are part of our family of God.

Wise words.

There are groups in South Africa which are claiming to be able to “cure” gay people, as though human sexual orientation and gender identity is some form of disease or “lifestyle choice“. Their attack on human rights and freedom of expression comes ENTIRELY from the perspective of religious conservatism and fundamentalism and has no basis in fact, reality, science or medicine whatsoever.

They claim we are “broken“, burdened with “unwanted SSA” (that’s “Same Sex Attraction”) that we are somehow in need of their intervention, and so they believe that the same God that made us gay, bisexual or trans, has duly appointed them the moral guardians to rush to our aid and to save us from our sinful natures.

I find the fact that so many people actually fall for their nonsensical prattle rather disturbing. In fact, I think it is because of a lack of education on what we are as opposed to what they say about us. (Read More)

South Africa GLAAD encourages TWO readers to write letters similar to the following, in your own words.

To: pret@international.gc.ca, Pretoria-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, info@parl.gc.ca, SpkrOff@parl.gc.ca, BrisoS@parl.gc.ca, info@cpsa.ab.ca, ttheman@cpsa.ab.ca, bward@cpsa.ab.ca, kgardener@cpsa.ab.ca, kmazurek@cpsa.ab.ca, kreed@cpsa.ab.ca, jswiniarski@cpsa.ab.ca, jlwright@cpsa.ab.ca, cmccann@cpsa.ab.ca, keby@cpsa.ab.ca, rdoyle@cpsa.ab.ca, lmoyles@cpsa.ab.ca, kstruski@cpsa.ab.ca, mstuffco@cpsa.ab.ca, sbarron@cpsa.ab.ca, msorochan@cpsa.ab.ca, dsunde@cpsa.ab.ca, bleisen@cpsa.ab.ca, kinsen@sen.parl.gc.ca, TTlali@justice.gov.za, CMsibi@justice.gov.za, deputyminister@justice.gov.za, info@foreign.gov.za, molobisk@foreign.gov.za, Edriese@foreign.gov.za, Bassonh@foerign.gov.za, Mashabaned@foreign.gov.za, Hattinghl2@foreign.gov.za, Rankhumisep@foreign.gov.za, sepanyamogalen@foreign.gov.za, Sitholer@foreign.gov.za, Montwedip@foreign.gov.za, jacobsd@foreign.gov.za, debeerj@foreign.gov.za, egale.canada@egale.ca, Coordinator@publicservicepride.ca, ayronvillegas@gmail.com

To whom it may concern,

It is with mixed elation, sorrow, anger and shame that LGBTIQ South Africans, their friends and family learnt of the arrest of Aubrey Levin of Calgary, Canada. Levin has been described as South Africa’ own Dr. Mengele. Many are happy that he has finally been caught for something seemingly related to his alleged activities in South Africa – but there remains a great deal of unfinished business left behind. If the reports about him can be believed, it would seem that Aubrey Levin literally got away with murder!

He was not prosecuted in South Africa. He disappeared to Canada before any such charges could be brought against him and did not appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He has since avoided coming to South Africa because of the alleged risk that he may be charged. Justice might still not have been served in South Africa.

The charges he is currently facing in Canada are not nearly sufficient to make up for his alleged activities committed at 1 Military Hospital and the alleged heinous violations of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender conscripts, conscientious objectors and others whom the Apartheid government considered undesirable. The charges he might face are as chilling as any which would be levelled against his Nazi namesake, who disappeared without a trace, never to be brought to justice.

We ask that Aubrey Levin not be allowed to go unpunished for his alleged crimes. We ask that he face the full might of Canadian law for his crimes there – and the full might of South African law here. (Read More)

Dr. Aubrey Levin, aka the Dr. Josef Mengele of apartheid South Africa, may have finally run afoul of the law.

He was arrested in Canada last week for allegedly abusing a Canadian man at his practice. It seems that old habits die hard. “Doctor Shock,” as he was called back in the old days, used to torture gay and lesbian military personnel to try and turn them straight. Amazingly enough, the folks at your local friendly neighborhood “ex-gay” ministry have been trying to that for decades, too – and haven’t been having much success either. Most intelligent people already know that it is nigh impossible to “straighten” what was made “skew” in the first place, to paraphrase an Afrikanerism. For those not smart enough to bluff their way out of Levin’s grasp, (shouting “Praise the Lord, I’m healed!”) he allegedly performed forcible sex-changes on them – and according to some sources, many of these were intentionally botched. (Read More)

In 2008 a journalist working for South Africa’s Sunday Sun wrote an article which insulted gay people and women, encouraged conservatives to remove the rights of gay people from the SA Constitution, and also thumbed his nose at the Human Rights Commission by saying that he would refuse to apologize. More than two years later, it seems Jon Qwelane has been proved right.

Not only has it taken two years for this man to be charged for his offensive publications, but now that the Human Rights Commission has finally managed to get the process to the point where it can go to court, Mr Qwelane suddenly cannot be traced to be served with notice that he should appear in court – effectively holding up the whole process.

Where, I wonder, is Mr Qwelane? Perhaps the tracers diligently searching for him have been asking in the wrong places. Have they asked the Government?

Government should know – after all, they have just appointed this homophobe to the position of SA Ambassador to Uganda – that country now infamous for pushing a new law which will see Uganda’s GLBTI population murdered – sorry, “executed” for the horrible immoral “crime” of being born under one of those letters which Ugandans ignorantly bundle together under the global description – gay. But then, maybe they don’t – after all, if you consider the state of our government, you have to wonder if the left hand knows whose back it is scratching, or the right foor whose as- well, you get the idea.

Our government clearly is unaware that they have appointed Mr Qwelane, a man so full of racist remarks, scorn for women’s equality and anti-Semitic and anti-gay hatred, to a position where he will do a great deal of harm to the situation in Uganda as Ambassador for South Africa.

Our government is somehow completly unaware that Uganda has been pushing an anti-human rights agenda for the past decade, by passing laws which turn people into criminals simply for the crime of existing – and of course, the new law – dubbed the Ugandan Genocide Bill – is a complete surprise to them – or at least, will be if they ever admit to its existence. This ignorance is puzzling considering that South Africa has been assisting Uganda in an official capacity for years in terms of infrastructure development, business investment and hey – we even supply electricity to them. And of course, nobodies like us have been sending letters, emails, faxes, pertions, phone calls to our wonderful government to complain about their persistent silence on the matter.

They have yet to utter one single word on the issue, even to acknowledge receipt of any correspondence or dialog on the issue.

Of course, how can you have plausible deniability if you admit to knowing something you later want to claim you didn’t know about? I can see the President in a few years making an announcement on the state sanctioned genocide of GLBTI people in Uganda – which it clearly knew nothing about and was just as shocked and horrified as the rest of the world to learn about. Think it will fly? Or do I hear the sound of something crashing and burning?

Our government is placing policy and diplomacy with a murderous state above the value of human life. It is ignoring the will and voices of its own people. It is placing convenience above its own increasingly doubtful claims of “morality”. And it is placing silent complicity above speaking out and saving lives – even the lives of people it doesn’t approve of.

The answer is simple. If they cannot hear us, shout louder.

In an obscene turn of events reserved for pasquinade the dear Minister of Arts and Culture (residing in the Ministry of Intolerance and Prejudice), Lulu Xingwana, stormed out of an art exhibition held on Constitution Hill. The dear Minister was so indignant that she called the artworks “… immoral, offensive and going against nation-building.”

Now that’ pretty rich coming from an obvious plebeian only in official title by virtue of bestowment by the Moral Compass of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and probably owning a matching flashy car (probably a BMW 7 series as is precept and precedent) holding the sceptre over Arts and Culture.

“While viewing the artwork, Xingwana appeared most upset by the work of Muholi and Mntambo, which deals with intimacy between women.”

The artworks which scarred our dear Minister for life and caused all the brouhaha that the she couldn’t even read her speech was “… a series of photographs by prominent artist and lesbian activist Zanele Muholi, of naked, black women embracing each other, Xingwana slammed the work as “pornographic”, spoke to her aides, and left in a huff. Her personal assistant read out her speech.”

Yes indeed, the pious Minister cannot stand visually stunning and tasteful photographs of women which in fact does not even show societal taboos such as certain parts of breasts and “below the belt areas”. Those were all cleverly and indeed artistically covered. The Minister thinks it amounts to pornography. Now I wonder if the porn label only relates to the assumed gay imagery…

It is especially ironic and terribly regressive that this happened in very close proximity to the much esteemed South African Constitutional Court, hence why the precinct is known as Constitution Hill. This is the same Constitutional Court which scrapped old discriminatory statutes and effectively ordered Parliament to legalise same-sex marriage otherwise the old Marriage Act would have been amended by means of their pronouncement to be non-discriminatory. This same Court gives ultimatums to Government yet the Minister of Arts and Culture provides a nice symbolic desecration in return and tramples all over the Bill of Rights with her tantrum. Uncannily this Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and provides freedom of speech as long as it doesn’t grossly violate another group’ rights.

The Minister was sweet enough to throw in the What-About-The-Children card as some kind of substantiation for her theatrics. This is quite odd when one considers that none of the imagery amounts to pornography. The artist says to the Times of South Africa in rebuttal that “…children need to know about these things. A lot of people who have no understanding of sexual orientation, people are suffering in silence…”

A constitutionally protected minority apparently has to be swept under the rug and children should preferably be protected from this constitutionally protected minority. A plethora of comments on articles covering this national disaster make complete fun of the supposed moral superiority of the new nationalists. The more things change the more they stay the same indeed — from one bunch of nationalists to another. Is anyone else seeing the pattern here?

This hideous event caught some attention beyond the South African borders as well when the Guardian in the UK reported on it. The Guardian states the delineating statement which should have tipped off Her Piousness:

In the exhibition’s catalogue, Muholi’s artwork is described as being “without precedent in South Africa, where there are very few instances of black women openly portraying female same-sex practices.”

The Minister however strongly denies it was the implied sexual orientation which caused all the ire as the Mail & Guardian reports that “[The Minister' personal assistant] denied that the minister objected to the fact that the women were lesbians. “I don’t think it’s based on sexual orientation. It’s more to do with the fact they’re not wearing clothes and engaging in what looks like sexual acts. The minister stands by what she did.’”

The Minister should have expected very substantial fallout. But then again maybe this is the direction the regime under Jacob Zuma is going. Just before the April 2009 general elections Mr Zuma played lay preacher at the Rhema Bible Church which is spearheaded by former World Iron Man wannabe Ray McCauley. Not long afterwards we learnt that Jacob Zuma in distinct demagogue fashion placed same-sex marriage rights and abortion on auction for the loudest sycophant when the earth-shattering news broke as elaborated on by the Mail & Guardian in Zuma’s new God squad wants liberal laws to go.

In February 2010 we learnt of the looming national debate on morality as envisaged by none other than Jacob Zuma. This came literally days after the discovery of the president’ umpteenth child and lover (the latest one being illegitimate). Some now rightfully wonders what practice what you preach means in modern day South Africa.

Annelie Lotriet of the official opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA), released a very critical statement on Xingwana’ hissy fit calling the Minister a bigot with no capacity to uphold the Constitution and suggests that Xingwana should rather tender her resignation. The statement by the DA also states the history of Jacob Zuma’ bigoted utterances: “same sex marriage is a disgrace to the nation and to God. When I was growing up, ‘ungqingili’ [homosexuals in isiZulu] could not stand in front of me, I would knock him out.” Lotriet also reminds the reader that Jacob Zuma recently appointed the rabidly, anti-gay Jon Qwelane as ambassador to Uganda.

The DA further raises some concerns:

It would appear that, below the surface bigotry and prejudice run deep in the ANC. It is disgraceful.
If this government is serious about creating a genuine democracy built on a foundation of human rights, it needs to act against the kind of prejudice the Minister espouses. One would hope the Minister has enough perspective to sanction herself and resign, should her pride prevent her from doing so, President Jacob Zuma needs to take action.

Lastly it would only be befitting to get the opinion of a renowned South African artist and professor of fine arts, Penny Siopis.

Siopis tells the Times of South Africa that:

“The fact is, as a minister she is a representative of our Constitution. It does not matter if she has a personal distaste for what she sees.”

If this kind of atavistic behaviour is a sign of things to come and some indication of the Zeitgeist within the ANC, I see a very gloomy future for the LGBTIQ community in South Africa. One can only hope that the Constitution is protected from the nationalists’ prejudice and conservativism. Bigotry knows no boundaries and symbolic gestures are often a taste of things to come.