Editorial: Not so cosy killing the innocent

Killing of homosexuals – not only the lesbians but gay men as well – tends to abound in South Africa recently, and this gives the country a murky reputation. It seems that since 2005 gay people, mostly lesbians, are being murdered each year not as any other ordinary homicide but for their different sexual orientation.

I stood cold at some moments trying to cogitate about the killings where they stem from, but one thought pointed at the demeanour and life style in the townships that has been adopted by quite a number of young girls these days. The demeanour and the life style is so distorted and misleading in that most of the young girls in the townships perceive homosexuality as a life style trend, which one can step into in any point in one’s life.

I’m only now recounting the experience that I have with the townships and villages because I’m not that acquainted with the suburb life style or white people living in the suburbs, especially that we don’t experience and hear much assault there.

These township girls’ perception also goes to the point where they associate affluence or wealth with homosexuality which raises consciousness to the mainstream community that homosexuality is not innate, genuine or origin where one is being born attracted to same-sex individuals.

I feel so damned and beleaguered as many from the mainstream community, particularly young men, cannot understand that homosexuality exists. Exploits such as ‘corrective rape’, ‘hate crimes’ and many more are being coined because the more these many young girls in the townships get into homosexuality for gains – either for finance, protection, association and exposure – the more they're being tortured.

So, according to some analysis, raping of lesbians and eventually killing them culminates from the fact that the perpetrators want to ‘correct’ and reprimand them since it is believed that they only turn to homosexuality for some reasons, and this makes it difficult for those who don’t understand homosexuality issues to accept that there are in fact homosexuals who are being born like that.

My lament, then, is that the attacks, that include rape, murder, taunt and torture, also affect those who are real homosexuals, especially the lesbians, in the townships. Homosexuality is not a playing field neither an opportunity to advance life. The least I could wish is that government and policy makers should make the Constitution a pragmatic journey for the society, so that we all understand fully our human rights as citizens, not leave it only in the hands of the Joint Working Group and the 07 -07 -07 Campaign.