DA MP CRITICISED FOR GAY PROTEST COMMENTS
DA MP and Shadow Minister of Home Affairs Manny de Freitas has been lambasted for saying that South Africa’s LGBTI community has no issues left to fight for.
In an open letter sent to the media, de Freitas suggested that recent LGBTI protests against a proposal by the House of Traditional Leaders to amend the Constitution to remove sexually orientation protections were pointless as “there are enough voices of reason in all parties to oppose [it].”
While ANC MP and Chief Nkosi Patekile Holomisa, head of the Constitutional Review Committee, approved the proposal to be debated, the DA and ANC have said that they will not consider it.
De Freitas went on to say in his letter: “It was easy before the birth of our democracy. Just like apartheid – you were either for or against – you either believed in LGTBI rights or not. That fight is now over. Pride parades are no longer opportunities for protest and the demanding equal rights for all.”
De Freitas added: “Perhaps it is time that the LGBTI community find something worth fighting for.”
Some LGBTI activists have reacted with outrage to de Freitas’s comments. Christina Engela from SAGLAAD responded that “this fight is FAR from over, Mr de Freitas.”
She pointed out that the protests were not organised out of fear that the proposal would be adopted but rather due to “the insult to our dignity posed by the very fact that such a Constitutional watchdog body [as the Constitutional Review Committee] is actually debating this issue, giving the impression that our rights as human beings are up for grabs.”
Engela also went on to cite examples of serious issues facing the LGBTI community in South Africa today such as continued attacks on the community by conservatives and religious fundamentalists, government failures to implement its constitutional obligations towards LGBTI people, and the scourge of hate-crime violence and so-called “corrective” rape.
“Mr de Freitas’s patronizing comments which portray our concerns as frivolous or hysterical, demonstrate both an insensitivity to the cause of our very real fears in facing very real threats, based upon past experiences – and also suggest that he is out of touch with our reality,” she said.
Melanie Nathan, a South African-born LGBTI activist now based in U.S., also responded to De Freitas’s comments in her own letter to the MP.
“There should be no legitimate procedure available, under any circumstances, for Members of Parliament, Committees, Traditional Leaders, etc. to ever review rights of any of South Africa’s groups, if they are indeed, as you intimate, fully entrenched [in] the Constitution,” she said.
“Until such process is eradicated as an option, the well being of all minorities remain, in essence, unprotected and anyone who cannot see that is not deserving of a seat in Parliament,” she added.
“Your comments do nothing more than attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the larger South African community, when you could have used this as an opportunity to focus on and correct the rampant homophobia experienced by LGBTI people in South Africa,” said Nathan.
In his letter, de Freitas suggested that a worthwhile endeavour for the LGBTI community is to help “explain and educate those that we refer to as bigots” to “change their perception and to get them to start thinking logically”.
Below is de Freitas’s full letter.
Dear Editor,
A new cause is needed by the LGBTI community to fight for.
Over a week ago the social media was aflutter with claims that Parliament wanted to amend our constitution to remove the sexual orientation clause. I was puzzled at the time considering that I have the privilege of being a member of the national Assembly. This was the first that I’d heard about this.
Over the weekend someone tried to convince me that the proposals by the Middle Age Style house of Traditional Leaders was completely formal. He simply wouldn’t accept my more luke-warm attitude to these ludicrous amendments. Even if the proposals by traditional kings (and queens) were taken up, there are enough voices of reason in all parties to oppose them.
It was easy before the birth of our democracy. Just like apartheid – you were either for or against – you either believed in LGTBI rights or not. That fight is now over. Pride parades are no longer opportunities for protest and the demanding equal rights for all.
For a while in the 1990’s the new HIV/AIDS pandemic appeared to replace the gay rights fight of old. That fizzled away as medical advances ensured that infected people can live a pretty normal life.
Perhaps it is time that the LGBTI community find something worth fighting for. Allow me to provide a suggestion.
Very few people; irrespective of which side of the tiara you stand on, have even asked why kings and chiefs of the various royal houses have a problem with gays and their rights? Why are some people who are perfectly logical in all matters excepting for when it comes to matters of homosexuality?
I dare say it is because of a lack of education – this is not formal education I am referring to. I refer to the lack of understanding of what homosexuality is. Why homosexuals exist. That they pose no danger to society or children. No, children do not “learn to become gay” or “suddenly decide” to become gay.
It is everyone’s duty, irrespective of one’s sexual orientation to explain and educate those that we refer to as bigots. Often all it takes is a detailed discussion to start the process of getting a person to change their perception and to get them to start thinking logically
This is our duty – a campaign and concrete action that you and I can do today and in the future.
Sincerely,
Manny de Freitas MP
Member of Parliament
Shadow Minister of Home Affairs
Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South
Democratic Alliance
You can send your letters of concern to leader@da.org.za and copy to hayley@da.org.za also to Manny on manny@democratic-alliance.co.za
I for one want a public apology seen he said it publicly.
Send the mails out
I’m beyond disillusioned with the DA. And one dare not criticise them. Oh no. They don’t take well to what they dish out all day. May we have another opposition party please?
The DA is just a lot of hot air trying to chase ANC opinion. Please give us a better party!
A better party? Let me guess…you vote ANC?
Case closed!
What this man is saying is insensitive given all the violence that the gay community in South Africa faces. However, he does have a point when it comes to ‘educating’ the ‘bigots’. Unfortunately it’s in most peoples nature to fear the ‘unknown’. Awareness is the best cure for homophobia. More effort has to be made by the gay community in this front.
I don’t think Manny de Freitas realises how contradictory his letter was. Sure we need to educate people more about being gay, but look at how those cheif leaders went about LBGTI issues in front of him. If he truely believes talking about during tea time will solve anything he’s than he’s a bigger duch than he portrays. He even had the nerve to downplay HIV/AIDS as if he was talking about diabetes or somthin… r u fuckin kidding me?! What a very dangerous statement from a leader!! So long as there is no cure or a treatment to get rid of it, it will always be an issue. Ask someone who has to live with HIV/AIDS if it’s as trivial as Manny de Freitas is making it out to be. Yes a serious apology is in order here. This is a good example why we need more LBGTI to get into politics. Percpective is paramount in leadership as a whole and these narrow minded veiws from the above mentioned leaders is a deterant on progress.
Mr de freitas should rather not comment he is gay himself and in the closet!!!!!DISSAPOINTED
in what closet! pls,..may be in denial about the fact that he lives as one of thse,self obssesed muscle queens that just cannot deal with the fact that gay men would be butch ,fem,loud camp and everything in between!
I certainly don’t believe De Freitas “mocked” anyone or had any intention to. In fact his own partner was at the one of the protests. As one of only two openly gay MP’s willing to support gay issues publicly think De Freitas deserves to be applauded and not hauled over the coals by people looking for a story where there is not one.
The worst thing we can do as the gay community is alienate our own kind when for the first time in years the community has worked together on something.
Organisers of the protests and myself said before the protests that we were not worried that the constitution would be changed, but against traditional leaders who do not respect out constitution. (See also debate on the Traditional Courts Bill)
We no longer need to flight for rights, as they do exist on paper, but we need to see that those rights are recognised. LGBTI people are still being discriminated against and persecuted, and for many the rights protected in the constitution seem a million mile’s away.
Furthermore, the heading of this article smacks of sensationalism. The DA is the only party that has proved that it is fully behind the LGBTI community, and was the only party that when the Civil Union Bill was debated in parliament said that having the word “union” instead of “marriage” for same-sex couples was a form of discrimination. Africa’s first openly-gay politician and parliamentarian (also DA), Ian Ollis, is a representative of the Gay Flag of South Africa and played a role in the adoption of the historic resolution condemning violence and discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation at the United Nations. The party’s leader, Helen Zille has stated that she fully endorses the Constitutions Bill of Rights and its commitment to the right of all to determine their sexual orientation, going on to say that everyone has the right to be themselves and live a life they value. This does not sound like a party that would mock LGBTI people.
Really would not expect anything else from you Mr,..support your buddy.His letter was unnecessary(although his right) and if not for many including the flag boys here in Cape Town the protests would not have happened!
But living your almost perfect lives ,you guys really do not understand your constituents and many times seems caught between beign party gay man and a serious politician.Then again which policticians are considered serious,.South Africa proves that on a regular basis! Daily!
Those common ‘Flag boys’? Give us a break – what an embarassment they are
What? I would suggest you NEVER go into politics. Your response is so full of assumptions if you were a politician you would have to apologise daily for your comments. And I thought Malema was bad!
Support your buddy – assumption (Are they buddies)
His letter was uneccessary – assumption ( It was thought provoking to me!)
Living your almost perfect lives – assumption ( You know Lance? and his life)
Dont understand your constituents- assumption ( How do you know this ?)
Caught between being a party gay man and serious politician – assumption ( Whats a party gay man anyway – is it another sub-culture?)
Which politicians are serious- assumption – (I know of a few Patricia deLille for one)
I think your response smacks of the big green monster. Bitchiness is not a pretty sight. It case you wondering I support the ANC at this stage but recently am having a mind shift change as I am liking some of the DA matters like the recent poster campaign
What? By they way – go read on De Freitas on Wikipedia and then ask “which politicians are condiered serious?” Do half of what he has done in his short life up to now and I will applaud you. His stats are imrpressive to say the least
I am with Lance on this one …
Everytime a lesbian is raped for corrective purposes – the fight isn’t over. Every time a child is called queer, fag, fruit and made to feel worthless because of his/her sexuality – the fight isn’t over. The reality is that even liberals, even gay people, even white people, even black people get it wrong and people have the right to express themselves and say no it’s not okay. He doesn’t need to be flagellated (unless he wants to) but it is being a bit out of touch with reality to think the LBGT community have nothing to fight for.
So everyone takes one line from the letter and jumps on it? FFS! Read it in context people. You’re as bad as Bible punchers. All he’s saying is do something to educate the bigots.
It’s this Twitter landscape you all live in these days: anything longer than 140 characters and your brain goes mushy.
The comment which so casually discusses AIDS is reprehensible. The tone is paternalistic and the DA’s whole narrative of “you’re too stupid to understand constitutional democracy” is not only getting rancid but also displays their disdain for their constituency. Way to go. You lost a lot of support.
Oh please! We are so divided and bitchy towards one another. The older I get, the more I (and I’ve noticed this trend among my friends too) distance myself from these drama queens of this non-existent “gay community” who take offence at anything that causes them the slightest discomfort. Don’t get me wrong, I am very, VERY thankful for all those who fought in the struggle for equality. They did it with dignity. What I see now are bitter queens (and kings) who jump at every opportunity to cry victim, or bigot, or a million other labels. It gets tiring after a while. Politicians and celebrities are walking on egg-shells whenever they talk about anything gay. It gets to be exhausting, because even the most well-intentioned pro-gay person can be “lambasted” by oversensitive, highly volatile and emotionally charged gay activists.
I comment de Freitas for his efforts at supporting us. We are not one community with one voice, so he is bound to upset someone no matter what his views on the matter are.
Why can’t we focus on the issues without belittling our political opponents. How will you ever help them understand your point of view if you shout and humiliate them? I think Mr de Freitas has hit the nail on the head: we should indeed be focussing on trying to understand the other side and then educating them. There is always a middle ground where, at least, tolerance of one another can happen.
Agreed.
Lance (or anyone) let this be a lesson to you should you wish to got further in politics CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY!!! No one is debating the good the DA has done. Manny de Freitas didn’t learn from Hellen Zille’s mistake with the whole refugee fiasco, people told her she was offending them n what did she do, she justifies it with a grammer lesson (didn’t choose her words carefully). there is no jusifying what Manny de Freitas said regardless of the intention and whatever point he was actually trying to make, him saying there was nothing left to fight for and his comment about HIV/AIDS pretty much killed it for him, it wouldn’t hurt to take a leaf from Hellen’s book n apologise. M u have made a seriously valid point we as a people need to lighten up. But as Lance stated as it stands, our rights are on paper. Yes the struggle of old may seemly be won but we still got some ways to go before we can say “There’s nothing to fight for”. The fact that people still have to stuggle with comming out, instead of just realising ur gay n it’s not an issue means there is still a cause to fight for… no matter how many laws an statues that can be made we still have work to do. Changing the law can be ticked off the box. NOW we have to change the hearts n minds of the masses. I daresay that is no cake walk.
Who the f&&*9 does Melanie Nathan thinks she? She should stay in the USA and take on their politicians for marriage equality – always an egg to lay about how the Safricans must act. Spare us!
You can ask that again! She is always meddling.
I have no, nil, nada problems with what De Freitas’ letter at all. Read the context of what he is saying and he is right. We have our rights – they are enshrined in the Consitution. We dont have to fight for them today, we have everything equal. We can marry ( I did – have I told anyone yet ? Joking), we can divorce, we can do everything that straight people can do. Where we have to be careful of is that the Constitution is but a statement. In reality things can be very different but that goes for all the forms of discrimination. The Constitution states that we must not disciminate on the basis of race- that is why there are no longer racists in our country? I think not! Note he said pride parades – not protest marches. I believe that Pride is a day of showing our Pride in who we are – to show young uncertain gay people that it is cool to be gay and nothing to be ashamed of. The fight of changing peoples perceptions is now personal. When I came out to the workforce of 600, I initially had detractors. Now I cant find one as I focused on showing my collegues that I am just an average cool oke who had not changed because I was gay. As gay people we can change peoples perceptions by being people of character, by being kind, by being better. But we need to make it very clear when people are bigotted that that is not OK. One guy at work made a chirp that I wanted to rape him to which I replied that he was in no danger as I only liked men. He hasnt chirped again.
His letter is fine with me, but I would warn that we never relax our guard and fight any oppression whether it be age discrimination, lack of political freedom.
Personally I think the next fight should be for our African brothers and sisters who suffer great oppression. Our government should be ashamed that they do not speak up against the atrocities in these countries and practice what our Contitution preaches.
Personally I think his detractors are a bunch of drama queens who are being far too sensitive to read the context of his letter. I would be very dsappointed if he apologised for saying anything wrong. Personally I am giving him a big thumbs up. Get over yourselves already! I will send this to the e-mail adresses below.Thanks for the info
must say reading the bitchy remarks from What? Steven and the like I can actually understand why straight people dont get the gay community . What a bunch of horrible people you are. A politician in our camp has an opinion and you all get personal about him. How dare you. So what if he is macho – suddenly thats not allowed – you have to be a limp wristed to be allowed into gay bandcamp? Looking at some of the remarks reminds me why my friend are almost all straight – less drama !
De Freitas responds:
‘Dear Editor,
Out of a letter action is generated
Part 1:
Earlier this month I issued a letter expressing my opinion. In the letter I said that I feel that the LGBTI community needs to find a new cause to fight for. I was bombarded with correspondence of all descriptions. The reaction to my letter was as varied and wide in opinion and attitude as the community itself. I thank those that chose to engage even when, at times, they disagreed with my opinion. I thank those that chose to simply insult and belittle me. I simply become stronger with that. In one particular case a person made me feel the same way that religious fundamentalists and bigots make me feel when they stand on the sidelines at a parade or a march. Ironic, isnt it!?
Many people felt that my letter was smug and arrogant. I was surprised with these comments as this was not my intention. The colleagues and friends I consulted with, who provide me honest feedback, confirmed this. I am thus apologising unreservedly as this was not the way I wanted to come across. Im sorry if I offended anyone.
Just to clarify: I have indeed been to funerals in townships and elsewhere where both gay men and lesbian women have been killed. I am well aware of the crimes being committed on our lesbian women, particularly those from township communities, in an attempt to straighten them out. I am also working on matter that few others have the privilege to come across; such as a case of a transgender person who is suffering under the maladministration, prejudice and purposefully slow administrative processes of the Department of Home Affairs. I am on the brink of victory for this courageous woman after many months of fighting on her behalf.
(continued)
Part 2
There was clearly a misunderstanding in my first letter where I wasnt clear enough. Of course citizens should march on important issues such as the defence of rights. The recent march to reinforce the sexual orientation clauses in our Constitution is such an example. My point however, is that the annual Pride parades that take place in our large cities have turned into nothing more than a celebration, from what they were originally that of a demonstration of protest during our dark past.
Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating, as is done at the well known Pride occasions, we should recognise that this is what they are- celebrations not protests or a demonstration for or against an issue. This was the gist of my letter.
Out of my letter has come some public debate which I believe was needed. Irrespective of whether people agreed with me or not, it generated emotions, passion and excitement exactly what we need! Out of that I have received a request from a Cape Townian to join hands with him in looking at how to education both the LGBTI community and those that do not know or understand it. This can only be positive.
Sincerely,
Manny de Freitas MP
Shadow Home Affairs Minister
Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South
Democratic Alliance
(Unsigned as transmitted electronically)
Thank you for coming back to us and putting the record right.
Well done.
What the member of parliament said was very correct. We do not follow the tradition of what a pride march was intended for. Cape Town has proven over and over again that it is not interested in addressing the LGBTI issues that is facing black and coloured people by way of the platform that it is afforded annually at the PRIDE MARCH.
How are we ever to address the important issues when the gay community cannot even identify the problems that exist within? What Manny is saying should and must be heard in light of what transpired.
Our diversity and its rights were never threatened, its a small group who over reacted (GAy Flag of SA – the opportunist group that would do anything for free promotion and publicity or media coverage) and spread the wrong information. In actual fact, the committee regularly engage with all leaders, similarly like it does with the Churches Council, the Afrikaner leadership etc.
Each have its own opinions and it is never a threat to our constitution.
I really think we need to go back and learn from history and understand what a pride march is all about and then implement and use these opportunities to highlight worthy causes and then party later..
I also dont see the point in why we always highlight Melanie Nathan, who is in San Francisco and who does very little for our local community. Nathan chose to desert South Africa during the years of apartheid and has suddenly become an expert on constitutional issues in RSA and claims to understand the “situation” when she never even lived in South Africa during our democracy.. how ironic isnt that?
Everyone is so UP the DA’s arses they can’t see that this is all a political game – Manny should NOT have MOCKED SA LGBTI. Lance should NOT have sided with the DA but with SA LGBTI (no balls??). This is so elitist. MR GAY SA should be changed to Mr. DA SA. Manny is a gay man btw which makes his stupid letters of um…what I REALLY meant was …umm….even worse. WTF
The lady (a misnomer in her instance) doth protest too much.
Part 1 Miss Nathan was born in South Africa and left the country in the early eighties nearly three decades ago. She is in her late fifties or early sixties, married to an Israeli woman and resides in San Fransisco. She writes a blog, with the rather cutesy name O-blog-dee-o-blog-da, a title presumably taken from the Beatles song which is a standard for singing in the US military during training sessions.
Nathans articles are more often than not, over the top, sensationalist and somewhat hysterical and where it comes to Africa, condescending and patronizing. She loves titles like South Africa Democratic Alliance Party Mocks South African LGBTI Protests to Protect Rights the one written in response to the De Freitas letter. Her intense dislike of the pro-LGBTI Democratic Alliance of Helen Zille shines through in this article particularly (apparently because it is too white or elitist as well).