Hate crime victims will be remembered when members of Free Gender march from Mfuleni to Blue Downs Police Station as part of the annual Khumbulani Pride campaign.
The march will be on Saturday 28 May and will be attended by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) organisations and partners.
It is designed to give special recognition to victims of homophobic violence and other hate crimes nationwide.
While Tuesday 17 May, marked International Day Against Homophobia, the march will seek to highlight some crucial strides made since the campaign was launched in 2013.
Velisa Jara, Free Gender member, told City Vision that nine years after the establishment of the campaign rape and discrimination towards LGBTQIA+ members prevailed. She believes they have, however, changed some mindset, especially of the police when dealing with LGBTQIA+ cases.
“In years gone by, when one reported a case, police would ask why did you not fight back because you are a man. That was because they looked at the clothes you were wearing,” she said. “But as time goes, they have come to realise that we are also here and live in these communities. Our rights as LGBTQIA+ need to be protected and are as important as anyone else.”
Jara said people in communities were “arrogant” and refused to learn that LGBTQIA+ are here to stay and acted ignorantly.
She said on Saturday, they will be highlighting a case of a lesbian that was killed in the area in October last year, while the suspect who is known in the community is yet to be arrested. “As Free Gender we visit communities, hold awareness’s, hand out pamphlets and conduct door to door to make people aware of our struggles. With all these protests, awareness we are fighting the stereotype directed at LGBTQIA+ community,” said Jara.
She said all they call for, is for police to do their job properly and arrest suspects of hate crimes.