We are very sad and outraged to hear about the death of Sizakele
Sigasa and Salome Masooa, two South African lesbian activists who
were executed on Sunday July 8^th, 2007. This barbaric act was meant
to paralyze our community with fear so as to eradicate the wonderful
work that is being done to empower us. We condemn this brutal act.
Our community is being robbed of brave and courageous women who
dedicate their lives to improving the wellbeing of the society.

We are proud of our heroes, Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Masooa, who
died doing what is right. May you rest in peace. Your work will
always be cherished worldwide. We all appreciate the hard work,
visibility and unconditional love you have given to empower the
community with great wisdom. We salute you forever. Our deepest
sympathy goes to the families, friends, and allies who are left with
the great memories of our heroes.

This is not the first time that African lesbians and HIV positive
women have been raped and/or murdered simply for being who they are.
In June, Simangele Nhlapho, a member of a support group for women
living with HIV, coordinated by the South Africa-based Positive
Women’s Network (PWN), and her two year old were raped and murdered.
16 year-old Madoe Mafubedu was also attacked and killed in April of
this year. In all these cases the perpetrators have not been called
to answer for their crimes. In a country where more women then men
are living with HIV, we are seeing an escalation of violence against
women. South Africa has the world’s highest rate of reported rape and
women are usually targeted for rape because of their actual or
presumed sexual orientation. Stigma associated with both rape and
homosexuality dictates that many of these attacks are not reported.
We are tired of seeing women, who served as the voices of their
community, raped and/or murdered simply for fighting for the rights
of their communities to survive and thrive. If these role models, who
dared to be out about their sexual orientation and HIV status, are
killed how then can we expect others to live their lives publicly,
without shame and fear? How do communities eradicate misogyny,
homophobia, transphobia and HIV-based stigma when it appears that the
state apparatus condones violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender (LGBT), and HIV position individuals?

There are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people all over the
African continent who live in hiding for fear of being physically
attacked or murdered. African cultures have always had numerous
expressions of sexuality and gender. European colonization brought
laws that criminalized us. Now our lives are demonized and called
’un-African’. What is un-African, however, is large-scale persecution
and oppression of communities trying to do nothing other than live
their lives in peace and harmony. What is un-African is using
religion as a tool to pit communities against each other, and draw
people’s attention away from problems such as poverty and corruption.
As LGBT African immigrants living in New York City we understand the
connection between U.S. foreign policies that prescribe a very narrow
usage of HIV/AIDS funding, and violence against LGBT and HIV positive
folks in our home countries. We also understand that the current
attempt by the U.S. to increase militarization in our home countries
will only intensify poverty, oppression and violence against women,
LGBT, and HIV positive people.

We stand in solidarity with the family and friends of the brave women
who were recently murdered, the Joint Working Group, and all
LGBT/HIV-positive individuals living in Africa. We demand Justice for
Sizakele Sigasa, Salome Masooa, Simangele Nhlapho, Madoe Mafubedu and
all others who have been persecuted because they were fighting for
self-determination and liberation of ALL African peoples.

On Tuesday, August 14^th there will be a candle light vigil in New
York honoring all LGBT and HIV positive African heroes who have been
murdered.

Check our Myspace page

http://www.myspace.com/liberation4allafricans>http://www.myspace.com/liberation4allafricans

or email africanliberation gmail.com for updates

This statement was jointly issued by Less AIDS Lesotho and the
committee of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender African immigrants
residing in U.S.

Note: South Africa is the only country in the world to have
constitutional protection on the basis of sexual orientation - and
yet this can still happen.