Nairobi, Kenya, January 2007.The public comes to see Black and African gays and lesbians with their own eyes. Around the activists, ten, twenty, maybe thirty people and their questions and comments swarm: "You're gay? Really?" Photo: Steph

In February 2006, 19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana from Khayelitsha in Cape Town, South Africa was brutally murdered. The Mail & Guardian in South Africa reported that Zoliswa and a friend were taunted for being lesbians by a group of heterosexual girls, and then were "clubbed, kicked and beaten to death by a mob of about 20 young men." Towards the end of 2006 four men savagely attacked seven Harare women who lived in their neighborhood and who were members of the Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) [5]. One of the men pushed a knife into a woman's vagina. Such brutal attacks on gays and lesbians in Africa were among the issues discussed at the World Social Forum (WSF) [6], which was held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2007.

Fadzai Muparutsa, Program Manager for GALZ, represented her organization at the WSF. She told Kubatana.net that she had gone to give support to the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK), which was established in 2006. Pauline Kimani of GALCK told Inter Press Service that they hoped that the WSF would transform Kenyan and African views on homosexuals. "We are saying we exist and that we are part of society. We want to be treated as people because we are people, we are human beings living in the same world." Events were mostly held at a venue set up by GALCK called the Q-Spot. It is reported to have been one of the most popular venues at the WSF.

According to Fadzai a lot of capacity building took place at the Q-Spot for representatives of gay and lesbian groups from all over Africa. Gays and lesbians at the tent also spent a lot of time answering visitors' questions about homosexuality -- she said that one of the biggest challenges was trying to explain to people that homosexuality is not an imported colonial construct. "A lot of people think it's very unAfrican to be homosexual and think it is a colonization thing," she said. But Fadzai isn't one to be fazed and she said she welcomed the challenge to change people's mindset. "It's hard for someone to unlearn what he or she has learnt," she said.

Back home, Fadzai said she would be sharing and implementing what she learned in Nairobi at GALZ. "The most critical area is schools where gays and lesbians are often stigmatized because of their sexual orientation," she said. Fadzai explained that GALZ only works with people who have reached the legal age of majority, which is 18 in Zimbabwe. GALZ does not assist those below 18 and those in schools for fear that they will be accused of "recruiting" homosexuals. However GALZ does refer those 18 and younger who need help to other support organizations.