Protest Action Across South Africa - Stop the Violence! 15 May 2011It started on Facebook, Nyx McLean and Kekeletso Khena put out a call to action:
Dear members of the LGBTIAQ community This is a call to all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, queer, genderqueer people, and those who support the LGBTIAQ community. There has been another murder: Nqobile Khumalo from Kwamashu township in Durban. This Tuesday, May 17th is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). We’re organising and calling for collaboration with regards to an event on Sunday, May 15th – this allows working people to be involved in the IDAHO protest action. We cannot stand another rape of a lesbian, or a gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, queer or genderqueer person. We cannot have another one of our own murdered. It has to stop now. We need to place pressure on government and civil society to speed up the formation of the hate crimes task team, and to take immediate action. Policy is good and well only if it results in action and ultimately a change in our society. We also call MOST URGENTLY for a collaboration among all individuals and organizations dedicated to the defense of human rights and who provide support to the LGBTIAQ community. This is a struggle that belongs to all of us. We cannot allow one group to dominate and turn this movement into one in which one individual represents us all and through this draws attention away from the true cause: ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST ALL LGBTIAQ PEOPLE. We need to remember that this is what we’re fighting for. PLAN OF ACTION Currently, White Flag is coordinating a protest outside Parliament at 3pm on Sunday. This is one of the Cape Town based protests. Please, we would like to see more protest action in Cape Town, would people be able to coordinate action in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, and anywhere else? People from Johannesburg, Durban, Grahamstown, Pretoria, could you please organize something? And people from anywhere and everywhere else, please coordinate protest action among your networks. We also encourage university groups to collaborate with individuals and organizations to create unified protest action – i.e. action that is not limited to your institution or bears only the weight of your student group’s name. The only thing we ask in terms of format is that these protests be collective and inclusive – i.e. everyone be involved in organising them and that no one is left out. Could it be organized that all protest action across SA happens at 3pm? There have been suggestions that at the event people attending scream to raise as many voices against hate crimes and intolerance as possible. However, please feel free to engage in protest action that your community and network feels right in doing – as long as it is NON-VIOLENT. Please do not engage in violent protest – for your own safety, and because it will detract from the cause. Please, please document the event. We need to begin keeping an archive of the work we’re doing – it is important that this moment in history is remembered. Please email any images, videos, and letters of solidarity to me at: nyxmclean@gmail.com. I will work on getting the Gay and Lesbian Archives to accept material from us. Please forward this call to everyone in your network. We need this to be widespread. Also, feel free to contact the media to organize coverage of your action. Suggested media: Mail &Guardian, SABC, SAFM, and any other publications, stations, websites that you can think of. Do not hesitate to raise your voice. Please also, when using Twitter, use the hashtags #endh8, #SA, #IDAHO and #LGBTIAQ– this will help with documenting the action for the archive. EAST LONDON, EASTERN CAPE
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