An article on MSNBC reports how men in South Africa are raping lesbians to try and turn them straight. "They yell, 'if I rape you then you will go straight, you will buy skirts and start to cook because you will have learnt how to be a real woman'." In just Cape Town, they are dealing with 10 new cases a week of lesbians being raped. 31 women have been killed due to hate crimes since 1998, but the number is probably much higher because the courts don't acknowledge crimes having to do with sexual orientation. This honestly breaks my heart to hear how people can be so intolerant and hateful. Although we still have a long way to go in terms of acceptance towards gays, I think America is slowly moving towards the right direction towards acceptance. California finally made a breakthrough and allowed same-sex couples to get marries, but later passed Proposition 8, which banned this as well as overriding all of the marriages that occurred before. This was a huge step back and for gay rights. Seeing how the rest of the world treats gay people so terribly I think it is more important than ever for the U.S. to set an example for the rest of the world that this behavior cannot be tolerated.
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It is quite the travesty that this is going on in South Africa much less anywhere in the world. Hate crimes due to sexual orientation are a horrible thing, but rape of any nature is. There is an epidimic of rape going on in the Congo of Africa. However, the media hardly has covered the issue until recently. So, I am impressed that MSNBC has covered this issue in SA because often i feel our outlets ignor things going on in other countries.
ReplyDeleteSouth Africa is notorious for having crimes like this. It is horrifying to think that this type of thing occurs in the modern world. I have heard of girls being raped in South Africa by men who are infected with HIV/AIDS because of a legend that raping a virgin can cure your disease. As a result, they infect these children (the girls are barely 12 yrs old) with the disease. In a world of acceptance and diversity, it is unbelieveable that crimes such as this continue. As an American, I think we sometimes take our freedoms and sense of security for granted because we are not forced to see these things happening in our society on a daily basis. My heart breaks for the women and families that are affected by the cruelty of others.
ReplyDeleteThis disgusts me. First of all, there is the lack of general knowedge. Those who are homosexual do not CHOSE to be homosexual; they are born homosexual. Think about it: it is common knowledge that being gay makes you suceptible to social outcasting, violence, hatred, misunderstanding and perhaps a life alone without love. Why would anyone CHOSE this life? Those who are homosexual were born with it and have felt it all their lives. They cannot chose to be straight just because it is "right" or mainstream. And raping them will only give lesbians one more reason to value women over men. Ignorance and intolerance disgusts me.
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