South African radical-right groups are mobilising against anti-LGBTQI+ campaigns

Queer civil society organisations in South Africa are calling on their government to take meaningful and urgent action against the homophobic and transphobic hate crimes and killings that have rocked the country in recent months. In a joint statement, these organisations emphasised the need to urgently finalise and enact the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill as one of several government actions required for adequate protection and access to rights for LGBTIQ+ communities.

The bill was drafted in 2016 and approved by Cabinet in 2018, but has yet to become law. Meanwhile, undeterred by the outcry from LGBTIQ+ communities across the country, some conservative groups – such as Family Policy Institute, Freedom of Religion South Africa, Cause for Justice, and the African Christian Democratic Party – have been mobilising to block this legislation and other policy developments that incrementally challenge hetero-patriarchal systems of privilege, power and oppression.

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