MAURITIUS GAYS CELEBRATE FIRST PRIDE MARCH

Jerina Messie (BTM French Reporter)

Nathalie Ahnee, head of the Collectif Arc-En-Ciel, the only LGBTI organisation in Mauritius and organizer of the event said the pride was called the march of gay visibility because “the expression Gay Pride is a bit scary here. It is also different from what you can expect or see in Paris or Sydney Gay pride.”
 
Ahnee said the success of the pride, which consisted of concurrent events such as a film festival focusing on homosexuallity oriented movies and the gay pride party, should not hide the fact that more needs to be done in Mauritius to promote rights of homosexuals.

She highlighted, “Although we don’t have laws that criminalise homosexuality we are not protected either and this legal situation in itself is a negation.”

Concurring with Ahnee Sealia Thevenau also from Collectif Arc-En-Ciel explained “There is no law penalising or protecting gays, so they don’t exist. If you are assaulted or insulted because of your sexual orientation, you can’t go to the police and say you were a victim of homophobia because they don’t recognise homosexuality as a sexual orientation.”

The gay community, according to the Collectif Arc-En-Ciel, represents about 3% of the total population on the island, but most of them are still in the closet and Ahnee believes
“One of the factors explaining this situation is the importance of the religion and what family and friends would say. We are on an island after all.”

Thevenau revealed, “There are three powerful religious communities on the island, Catholic, Muslim and Hindu, from whom the vast majority of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people come from. They are strongly opposed to homosexuality.”

However Ahnee said some improvements with regard to LGBTI rights are beginning to surface in Mauritius.

“In December 2008 the parliament promulgated a law that stated that discrimination based on sexual orientation was unfair. There is also the Equal Opportunity Rights Bill which prohibits any discrimination on any ground be it sex, race or sexual orientation, on work place or hiring. We don’t want to crow on this. We are still demanding the right to get married, to adopt and to inherit”, she said.
Meanwhile Collectif Arc-En-Ciel celebrates its fifth anniversary this year and aims to empower the LGBTI community in Mauritius.

It organises regular gay friendly parties called “bring and share” where people can meet and discuss the issues affecting the community.
 
“The LGBTI community is becoming visible and more and more people attend our parties. We offer a place where they can meet, get together and socialize”, Ahnee said.

The organisation has recently launched a campaign funded by the European Union.

The objectives of this campaign are to raise awareness on LGBTI issues such as homophobia and how it affects LGBTI people and to fight stereotypes.