WEEK: 09 -13 JULY 2007

Lesbian Killing: We Demand Justice!

(July 9, 2007) The South African lesbian and gay communities through the
Joint Working Group* and partner organisations STRONGLY CONDEMN the
killing of Sizakele Sigasa (34) and Salome Masooa (23) from a township
in Johannesburg. They were found (Sunday 8th July) murdered, execution
style, in a nearby field in Meadowlands; a shocking image that is not so
new in South Africa in the light of the recent increase in violence and
rape against women either identified as, suspected of or supporting
lesbian and gay rights.

Gays and lesbians are men and women, human beings who deserve equal
rights and treatment – not to be ridiculed or called names, beaten,
tortured, raped or killed. These gross human rights violations are not
just inhuman and barbaric – they must not be tolerated! Sizakele and
Salome’s killers, like everyone else, HAD NO RIGHT TO THREATEN OR KILL
THEM!!

Violence against lesbians and gays is unSouth African. Here, oppression
and discrimination have no place, still there are parents who reject or
kick children out to the streets; siblings, friends and communities who
hurt, beat, rape, torture and even kill lesbians and gays. If they
survive all this, they face further victimisation at in the hands of the
police and even the courts – THIS IS NOT JUSTICE AT ALL. People who
inflict harm upon and even kill lesbians and gays (or anyone else) do
not belong in South Africa. Leaders and communities that do not oppose
violence against gays, lesbians, women, children, rape survivors and
HIV+ people do not belong here.

1) We call on the Meadowlands Police Services to investigate this matter
- efficiently and rigorously;

2) We call on other state bodies and communities to support the families
by working with the Police and the Prosecuting Authorities towards
ensuring that the killers are brought to book.

We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and friends.
We offer our support to the colleagues and comrades as they mourn the
death of these two precious women.

MEMORIAL SERVICE: Thursday 12 July 2007, 12h00-15h00 (Epelegeng Centre)

FUNERAL: Saturday, 14 July 2007, 12h00 (Meadowlands Community Centre)

(Contact: Busi Kheswa, Gay and Lesbian Memory In Action, 011-717/4239/1963
Prudence Mabele, Positive Women’s Network, 078 383 9529)

For assistance in dealing with trauma and loss or for a debrief please
contact the:

UNISA Centre for Applied Psychology: 012 429 8089/8544 or OUT LGBT Well-
Being: 012-344-6500

Issued by Nonhlanhla Mkhize (031 301 2145) for the Joint Working Group
(JWG).

The JWG is a network of LGBTI organisations and partners in South
Africa. Our Vision is to strengthen the organised LGBTI sector to
maximise our response to LGBTI needs through partnerships, collective
use of resources, and drawing on the strengths of participating
organizations in contributing towards social justice and the
reconstruction and development of South African society.

i’m still a work in progress.

None of us are born with a guidebook that provides explicit rules for thought and behavior that will enable us to navigate life successfully. To cope with the myriad of complexities to which all of humanity is subject, we each develop a set of habits and routines that ground us, their continuity assuring us that life is progressing normally. Most of us know, whether instinctively or by experience, that transformations can be uncomfortable, but we always learn and gain so much. Any initial discomfort we experience when expanding our comfort zones diminishes gradually as we both become accustomed to change and begin to understand that temporary discomfort is a small price to pay for the evolution of our soul.

Your current comfort zone did, at one time, serve a purpose in your life. But it is representative of behaviors and patterns of thought that empowered you to cope with challenges of days past. Now, this comfort zone does little to facilitate the growth you wish to achieve in the present. Leaving your comfort zone behind through personal expansion of any kind can prepare you to take the larger leaps of faith that will, in time, help you refine your purpose. Work your way outward at your own pace, and try not to let your discomfort interfere with your resolve. With the passage of each well-earned triumph, you will have grown and your comfort zone will have expanded to accommodate this evolution.

Whether your comfort zone is living with your parents, or perhaps being too shy to socialize, or maybe it’s not realizing your spirit self—whatever it is, start small, and you will discover that venturing beyond the limited comfort zone you now cling to is not as stressful an experience as you imagined it might be. And the joy you feel upon challenging yourself in this way will nearly always outweigh your discomfort. As you continue to expand your comfort zone to include new ideas, activities, goals, and experiences, you will see that you are capable of stimulating change and coping with the fresh challenges that accompany it.

i work for a bank and im on the phone all the time. its mad monotonous and it got on my nerve like yesterday. i tell myself that with the job comes a reliable health insurance plan. i don’t need a medic to tell me how good aetna is. i am the happy recipient. each infusion that i go for is $16,000. i only pay for the drs visit. i begin my new schedule this sunday. its an earlier shift. my doggs, my sanity and body will be forever grateful for the change. with it, comes a decrease pay rise which when talled at the end of the year its about $1,200. i am very, very nervous. each penny, cent, dollar goes a long way especially since the last one year or so, i’ve been working less than 40 hrs. i don’t want to dwell on the decrease of my pay. yet. its right there. on the tilting scale comes the exhaustion that constantly wears my body down. since the surgery last year, i haven’t fully regained my strength. & i’m thinking with an earlier shift coupled with the medication and infusion, plus the change of diet.. hardly eating meat.. i may get back into yoga.. yea!! & then, i read daily om. faith. faith. faith…

since ‘ a mighty heart.’ premiered last week, i have had mixed feelings about the interpretation of the movie from the book. i suppose it is from the linguring disgust i felt after watching last king of scotland. whereby inasmuch as the facts of the movie were correct. idi amin was a mass murderer there was a sense of voyeurism with western overtones that i didn’t quite appreciate and like. now reading the commentary by asra q. nomani, leads me to belief that perhaps i will feel the same way about the movie.

I do not loc my hair, instead i wear it natural. clean. bald. like the glitter of my skin, oiled and basked in the womb

of my mothers life. To me, being bald, i walk in step with the women who bathed me. Of women who sung songs of

freedom. Of wangu wamakeri. mbuyu nehanda. me katili. I step in baldness, because in the smoothness,

i am annointed in boldness of the women who have loved unfashionable and in the softness of tenderness.

I am becoming the woman I’ve wanted

grey at the temples

Soft body, delighted,

cracked up by life

with a laugh that’s known bitter

but,past it,got better,

knows she’s a survivor

that whatever comes,

she can outlast it.

I am becoming the deep weathered basket.

I am becoming the woman I’ve longed for,

the motherly lover

with arms strong and tender,

the growing up daughter

who blushes surprises.

I am becoming full moons and sunrises.

If we envision a world where women support each other and help each other find their place in an ever-changing world, then we can become the change we want to see. Jealousy, envy, criticism, and judgment are refuges for the insecure. As we help others to become self-assured, we create a world in which all people help each other, regardless of gender. Only women can make the change in how women are seen and understood, not just by other women but by the world at large. The way we speak about each other to other women and to the men in our lives informs everyone to treat us with the respect that all women, and all people, deserve.