LGBTI

Wendy Hlophe* is still visibly grieving for her long-term friend, 28-year-old Sanna Supa, who was shot and killed outside her home in Braamficherville, a South African township, two weeks ago.

Tragically, Hlophe blames herself for Supa’s untimely death. Supa, a lesbian who came out about her sexual orientation three years ago, was one of the few openly gay women living in the township. She was a school administrator at Snake Park High School in Dobsonville, Soweto, and was killed as she parked her car at home on Jul. 1.

Hlophe told IPS that she holds herself responsible for Supa’s death because she is known as an openly gay woman in her township and she supported Supa when she came out. Hlophe fears that their closeness may have made Supa a target.

“We grew up in the same street and were often seen together,” she told IPS.

Every year, ILGA produces maps on Gay and Lesbian rights in the world as well as its State Sponsored Homophobia report. Most material is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, this year the world map has been also produced in Chinese, Hindi and German. You can download them on this page.

Founded in 1978, ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association is now a association of over 900 groups in over 115 countries campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) rights.

To raise awareness on the extent of State Sponsored Homophobia in the world, we’ve created a few items (in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish) you may want to use around you:

- ILGA State-Sponsored Homophobia report: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults. The research, by Lucas Paoli Itaborahy, Brazil, was updated in May 2012.

In Spanish (to be uploaded soon)

In Portuguese (to be uploaded soon)

In French (to be uploaded soon)