Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities members. (Photo courtesy of Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities)
Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities, an LGBTQ and intersex rights group, is hopeful the country’s Registrar of Companies will allow it to register after the Supreme Court heard its case on May 5.
The Registrar of Companies in 2019 first denied Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities’s request on grounds the organization advocates for LGBTQ and intersex rights that are illegal.
Consensual same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under common law, which criminalizes sodomy. The law, however, has never been enforced, but Emaswati who identify as LGBTQ or intersex still face discrimination.
Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities in 2020 approached the Supreme Court with the case. The Supreme Court dismissed it in 2022, but Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities appealed the ruling.
Closing arguments in the case took place on May 5.
“There is no law in Eswatini that prohibits the LGBTI+ community from identifying. Nothing is criminal about that. Don’t we have in this country an association of ex-prisoners? Isn’t the Registrar not scared that the ex-prisoners association includes rapists and murderers who will share ideas but is afraid of the LGBTI+ community? How is that association legal and ESGM is not? Homosexuality was not outlawed by the constitution and therefore the refusal to register ESGM is clearly a rights infringement,” said Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities in a statement.
The Supreme Court has not said when it will issue its ruling.
Eswatini’s government has not forbidden Pride celebrations or obstructed their planning, even though it continues to oppose LGBTQ and intersex rights.
Rock of Hope, an LGBTQ and intersex rights organization, in 2018 organized Eswatini’s first Pride event.
The country is the continent’s last absolute monarchy, which has been under King Mswati III’s rule since 1986 when he was 18. Eswatini is deeply rooted in traditional and customary practices, which are mostly patriarchal, that do not include the LGBTQ and intersex community.
According to Gerbrandt van Heerden, an African researcher, historical evidence in many instances dispels the notion that LGBTQ and intersex people, as well as non-traditional gender expressions and identities, are alien to African culture.
“Whether it is the elite pushing the gay rights are un-African narrative out of pure ignorance, or whether power-hungry politicians dance to the tune of the people they govern in order to remain popular with the electorate, there is no question that categorizing same-sex attraction as a foreign concept and a form of neo-colonialism serves as a major obstacle to LGBTI rights on the continent,” said van Heerden.
Van Heerden also noted that in order for there to be less stigmatization of LGBTQ and intersex people, there should be more awareness of the LGBTQ and intersex community.
“Debunking the idea that LGBTI people are un-African is another powerful tool to further LGBTI rights on the continent. It all boils down to education,” said van Heerden. “Studies have shown that tolerance for gay people is highest among educated Africans. LGBTI people are among the most vilified groups on the continent today, but simply paging through the history.”
Although the government and many Emaswati only see LGBTQ and intersex rights organizations as advocacy groups, they play a pivotal role in ensuring the community’s health.
Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities and Rock of Hope have been working to ensure LGBTQ and intersex Emaswati receive access to health care without discrimination.
The Rock of Hope last month on Rainbow Health Day provided free medical care to the country’s LGBTQ and intersex community. This care included COVID-19 vaccinations, HIV testing and counseling, psycho social support, TB and STI screenings, free condoms and lubricant distribution, among other things.
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