13 Years into our democracy and our progressive constitution, which includes the protection of the human rights of LGBTI persons, we find ourselves still marching for freedom.

Our black sisters in townships and rural communities are continued targets of corrective rape; verbal, sexual and physical abuse; plagued by violence and trapped by the collective oppressions of sexism, homophobia, hetero-normative values and patriarchal structures. Black lesbians and effeminate men are humiliated and publicly shamed resulting in their brutal and violent deaths which are ignored by local authorities and national leadership.

The Joint Working Group, a national coordinating committee of LGBTI organisations has launched the 07-07-07- Campaign to draw attention to hate and gender-based violence.

The provincial launch coincides with the 2nd anniversary of the death of Zoliswa Nonkonyane, who was brutally murdered in Khayelitsha in 2006.

As LGBTI persons, we claim our spaces and demand our freedom: Freedom to be safe; freedom to express our sexual diversity; freedom to express the authenticity of our love; and freedom to claim and enjoy our constitutional rights.

We call on our women leaders to break the silence on sexism, homophobia and homo-prejudice and to express their outrage at all forms of gender-based violence and at the murders of all women including lesbian women.

We call upon our police services to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring the safety of LGBTI persons and to take concrete and visible action towards the elimination of all forms of hate crime and gender-based violence.

We call on the LGBTI community to stand up, and raise their concerns and their voices to break the destructive cycles of apathy and ignorance that exists regarding the claiming of our rights, reporting incidents of hate crimes and violence, and to actively support programmes of activism and public education.

You are invited to the Launch of the 07-07-07 Campaign in the Western Cape:

Sunday, 3 February 2008, 15h00 at the Saartjie Baartman Centre, Athlone (Directions) with an interfaith service.