Various Namibian civil society organisations (CSOs) have condemned remarks made by the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) on homosexuality, saying the remarks serve as gross dehumanisation and degradation of lesbian and gay people.

In a joint statement issued on Monday by the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa (ARASA), the CSOs said the SPYL statement can reinforce a culture of prevalent stigma and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community members.

This was in response to SPYL secretary-general Ephraim Nekongo who last week urged fellow Swapo members in the National Assembly to stop wasting their time discussing the rights and possible ways to legalise homosexuality in Namibia because it is “satanic” and takes up time that should be reserved for “more important motions” in Parliament.

The groups said it is disheartening to see a national youth organisation use inflammatory language and shirk its responsibility to provide the Namibian youth with informed positions on the discourse of human rights, even though Namibian youth have been instrumental in creating safe spaces for equality movements and can only continue to do so if their leaders are able to facilitate the process in an unbiased and non-discriminatory manner.

“We remind our national leaders of Chapter 3 of the Namibian Constitution that upholds the fundamental rights and freedoms of all citizens, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community. These rights and freedoms are intrinsic, fundamental and inalienable and must be taken into account when considering the rise of hate speech that has the potential to add to the ongoing prevalence of homophobic, transphobic and interphobic attacks perpetuated against the LGBTQIA+ community by some segments of society of which the SPYL has joined the chorus,” they said.

It added that this kind of rhetoric must be addressed in order to ensure the protection of the rights to bodily autonomy and integrity for the dignity and wellbeing of all citizens, noting it is imperative to clarify to SPYL that homosexuality in Namibia was never illegal nor criminalised.

The group includes ARASA, Namibia Diverse Women’s Association, Rainbow Reflections of Namibia, Voice of Hope, Positive Vibes, Out-Right Namibia, Wings to Transcend Namibia, RAM Gender Diversity Movement, Office of Mr Gay Namibia, Rural Dialogue Namibia, Purpose Amplified Namibia, Rights Not Rescue Trust and the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Source: Namibia Press Agency