Gay and Transgender Rights in Namibia

Yesterday, during class, I was speaking to Carol about the video, How Namibia’s Leader Turned into it’s oppressor, and just the shock that I was in because of it.  Of course I have heard of the homophobic views and even laws in African countries but for some reason, when I found out that a lot of Namibians in government had homophobic views, I was disappointed.  I didn’t mean to be disappointed, I just thought that things may be different for a country that fought so long for their freedom. What shocked me the most was the blatancy of the president of Namibia, Sam Nujoma’s, hatred for homosexuals in his speeches. One thing that did intrigue my attention is that, in 2001, during the most oppressive times for those who considered themselves homosexuals, Namibia had their first gay pride parade. And nobody was arrested or injured which made this parade even more of a success! It took one person to speak out on the hate speeches for an army of supporters to come out and march along with them. Now, in 2014, there is still tension when talking about gay rights in Namibia.

Often times politics try and put gay rights in the same umbrella as transgender right. An article in the The Namibian titled, Transgender individuals struggle to access health facilities, discusses the trials and tribulations citizens who identify as transgender endure on a consistent basis. The author noted that, “Transgender people are not well received in the public health sector. There is still a lot of prejudice going on,” says Eiseb, who was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 30” (Tjihenuna). In addition, identification as transgender or gay is very much so frowned upon in Namibia. There are no laws to protect the rights of gays, lesbians, and transgender people. Not only do these individuals experience maltreatment they also are actively destructed by the Namibian government. The author stated, “Director of Rights not Rescue, Nicodemus Aochamub, who has been very vocal about the rights of the transgender community in Namibia says that Lesbian, Gay Bi-sexual and Transsexual (LGBT) people will continue to be persecuted in Namibia, unless the anti-homosexuality laws are revisited” (Tjihununa). Both LGBT and transgender rights are important sects of modern day societies which makes it even more important for political figures and citizens to respect. Now, reflecting on this, I ask the question, what can we, as Periclean Scholars, do to help this situation from escalating? Gay and transgender rights must be discussed. That is why Devon and I chose to bring up this topic to get everyone who is reading this thinking about it.

                                             Works Cited

Tjihenuna, Theresia T. “Transgender Individuals Struggle to Access Health Facilities.” The Namibian. CEIT Development Namibia, 11 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.

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One Comment

  1. Posted October 22, 2014 at 6:25 am | Permalink

    If you need more information on LGTBIQ in Namibia you can contact them on their facebook page:Linda Bauman(Out right Namibia)