Urge South Africa to speak up against and condemn Anti-LGBTQI+ Laws in Africa
The South African government's silence in the face of escalating anti-LGBTQI+ violence and legislation in African countries contradicts its commitment to human rights.
South Africa has a duty to its past and to its future that compels it to embrace the human rights and dignity of all of Africa’s people. For as long as South Africa ignores the plight and deadly oppression of the LGBTQI+ communities to the north, South Africa is as good as complicit in Africa’s current wave of genocidal human rights abuses.
South Africa was silent after Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023. And now, with Ghana’s Parliament passing the “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill”, South Africa remains silent. This impacts other countries on the continent which are motivated by President Museveni’s call to African countries to lead the way to “save the world from homosexuality.” Tanzania and Kenya are contemplating harsher new anti-LGBTQI+ laws.
The impact of this inaction is profound. LGBTQI+ Africans are facing life-threatening violence, discrimination, and the risk of genocide, without recourse to protection or asylum. South Africa's leadership is vital in denouncing these abuses and advocating for decriminalization and human rights across the continent.
Your signature is a call for South Africa to honor its human rights obligations by condemning anti-LGBTQI+ laws and leading efforts to protect and support LGBTQI+ Africans.
Read the full open letter by the African Human Rights Coalition here.
