DA SLAMS SA GOVERNMENT OVER ANTI-GAY UN VOTE

The DA says that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Nkoana-Mashabane must explain why South Africa voted to exclude LGBTI families from a UN resolution.

The Resolution on Protection of the Family was passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 25 and specificallyexcludes diverse concepts of families, including LGBTI families.

The resolution was mainly championed by African countries and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; nations consistently opposed to LGBTI equality.

Shockingly, South Africa is accused of not only voting for the resolution but also of supporting Russia’s move to block discussions to include LGBTI families in the resolution.

“This move by the South African delegation flies directly in the face of the Department of Justice’s task team set up in 2011 to address the rise in hate crimes against members of the LGBTI community that have shocked the country in recent years,” commented MP Stevens Mokgalapaand, the DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

He said that he will write to Minister Nkoana-Mashabane demanding an “urgent explanation for South Africa’s endorsement of the exclusion of LGBTI families” from the resolution.

“This endorsement together with government’s silence on the Ugandan anti-gay legislation is a worrying sign that the South African government is not at all serious about LGBTI issues,” Mokgalapaand argued.

He added: “South Africa has a proud history of fighting injustice with a liberal constitution which enshrines rights on sexual orientation. Moreover, South Africa has many LGBTI families that would benefit from a recognition of a broader definition of ‘family’. We should therefore be the first to argue for same sex inclusion, and oppose any attempts to limit this in any way.”

The belief that homosexuality is a “threat” to the traditional family unit has been used by conservative and religious elements and governments around the world to support cracking down on LGBT equality.