INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA – MAY 17TH

Published on: 13 May 2009

As instituted by the Declaration of Montréal in 2006, May the 17th marks International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’. This famous first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted almost sixty years ago by the General Assembly of the United Nations, still contains in a nutshell our political agenda, as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, transitioned and intersexual persons.

Studies on homophobia indicate that most of this fear originates in the concept of Heterosexism. Heterosexism is the belief that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the only acceptable way of being. This belief relies on the idea that the majority rules and is therefore normal. This in turn breeds intolerance toward homosexual people and creates Homophobia which is a negative attitude or feeling, an aversion towards gays and lesbians or towards homosexuality in general. It is also the rejection of people considered gay or lesbian and of all things associated with them, for example, gender non-conformity. In its most extreme form homophobia can lead to violence and hate crimes against homosexual people.

Though many of us may feel complacency due to being relatively protected under the South African constitution, homophobia is still rife and affects many people’s lives daily. Though born of an international drive for recognition of rights for LGBT people, IDAHO should have further meaning for us in South Africa with ongoing hate crimes damaging or destroying many people’s lives.

Perhaps the darker side of homophobia is the denial of its existence. A recent report has claimed that discrimination, harassment and violence against LGBT people are widespread throughout Europe. The study, titled Homophobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the EU Member States: Part II - The Social Situation, was published by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). "Many LGBT persons experience discrimination, bullying and harassment. There have been physical attacks and even deadly assaults against LGBT persons in some countries. These are alarming signals in an EU that prides itself on its principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination,” said FRA Director Morten Kjaerum.

We need only look north of our borders to Zimbabwe to see how homophobia can be entrenched by a regime in a country – based entirely on the concept of heterosexism. Hopefully all gay South Africans recently participated in the elections to ensure representation by a party who upholds our people’s human rights as established in the constitution and not a party who seeks to undermine these inalienable rights.

Homophobia also often takes on a more subtle face as expressed by Olympic Gold medallist Matthew Mitcham. He told the Daily Telegraph, "I haven't experienced any homophobia in sport but I'm hoping I'm not experiencing any in the corporate world because I haven't had any companies rushing to sponsor me. It took me a very long time to secure any form of sponsorship after the Olympics, and that's still my only sponsorship."

A more visible contribution in showing solidarity takes that form of an international hand holding campaign that has been planned to coincide with IDAHO. For more details check out www.adayinhand.com.