KwaZulu-Natal Young Communicators winning speech

Let us hang them

By Thabiso Bhengu from Zamazulu Secondary School

.

Something shocking has really happened in one of the labour wards in a hospital, a child was born without a sex organ. We have a huge crisis. Is it a boy or a girl? What is this child going to wear? Do we make this child to wear half blue or half pink? What toys do we give this child, is it going to be a truck or a pink doll? Why do we need to know this child’s sex? Does it really matter? If this child has a sex organ, how is that going to enhance or oppress his or her life? Why does the society want to know?

Today I will argue that South African society needs to learn to show respect and to be more tolerant to people with “different’ sexual orientations from heterosexuals. These people are called LGBTI group. LGBTI stands for Lesbians, Gays, Transgender, Bisexuals and Intersexed people.  I want to prove that our brothers and sisters from the LGTBI group are also capable of making positive contributions towards the development of our country. I will show that our failure to tolerate ‘other’ sexual orientations in schools and communities at large has contributed to “gangsterism” which is one of our social hammers, that continues to strike each and one of us..

Adjudicators, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, gays and lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered and Intersexed people, the house at large, all protocol observed, accept my humble greetings. My name is Thabiso Bhengu from Imbali unit 2 who is a full-time candidate at Zamazulu Secondary School.

The LGBTI group is comprised of human beings like you and me who are capable of making positive contributions to our society. Their skills and knowledge spread across all the areas of development. They deserve to be respected like human beings. Our cruel society has marginalised, ostracised and brutally treated our brothers and sisters who are LGBTIs.  For an example, Endy Simelane who was sexually assaulted and tortured four years ago for being a lesbian, was a role model to many rural young South African girls who looked up to her. She was an international soccer player who was a living example of the fact that whatever men are capable of doing, women are also capable. Her tragic death was in fact an elimination of the scarce skills that our country needs. This lethal culture of intolerance has to come to an end. It is an insult to our constitution that is commended as one of the bests in the world because it protects the rights of all human beings irrespective of their race, gender or sexual identity .Therefore it is necessary for the South African society to learn to respect and be more tolerant to LGBTIs.

Our failure to tolerate ‘other’ sexual orientations in schools and communities at large has contributed to “gangsterism” which is one of our social ills. Some of our brothers and sisters who are gays and lesbians have resolved to “gangsterism” as a method of protection. We are all aware that the products of this kind of behaviour are working against human rights. These lead to casualties and eventually death. This is brought about by our ineffective community policing system. Some of our LGBTIs have laid charges against perpetrators but have never been prosecuted. This can also be attributed to the fact that most of the police force members are also against the liberation of gays and lesbians. You will recall the latest incident in Free State where a lesbian went to the nearest police station to seek for recourse after being raped by a gang who wanted to ‘show’ her that she was a woman. The police officers took liberty to rape her as well. People are beginning to lose hope in the SAPS. That is why gays and lesbians are resolving to “gangsterism” for protection. This is not the way to go. South Africa might claim to be free from any form of discrimination however such stories are shocking and prove that we are not free as yet (It’s not yet uhuru). Our society needs to learn to show respect and be more tolerant to gays and lesbians.  

Ladies and gentlemen, we have seen that that LGBTI group consists of people who are gifted as well. We have also seen how such people have been failed by the SAPS and thus resolving to gangsterism which is a serious social ill. We are appealing to the South African people to exercise human dignity- ubuntu by respecting each other and being more tolerant to LGBTIs. Can you imagine how our country was going to be like if none of us had a sex organ? Our sex organs are smaller than ourselves and yet are used to attach certain gender roles and stereotypes which confine people into sexual orientations they do not like. I propose that we hang our vaginas and penises for a moment and enjoy a South Africa that is fair, just and peaceful to people of all sexual identities