OUT WANTS YOUR DETAILS
Posted on: 22 July 2010OUT is updating its Resources List, which lists other organisations, groups and service providers that service the LGBT community in South Africa. If you feel you qualify, please e-mail your details to Jacques Livingston at livingstonj@out.org.za.
SOUTH AFRICA FAILS LGBT PEOPLE AT UN
Published on: 24 June 2010Shamefully, South Africa has again refused to support efforts to highlight discrimination against LGBT people as a legitimate human rights issue at the United Nations.
According to Jerry Matjila, South Africa's official representative to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the inclusion of sexual orientation in a report on racism and intolerance “demeans the legitimate plight of the victims of racism".
He made the comment on Tuesday following the presentation of the report by Githu Muigai, the UN Rapporteur on “contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”.
Muigai said in his report that "the identity of each individual is made up of a multitude of components, such as gender, age, nationality, profession, sexual orientation, political opinion, religious affiliation and social origin".
This notion was rejected by South Africa to the dismay of human rights defenders at the UN.
