How can this soul Rest In Peace?
Another dark cloud falls and sits comfortably on our rainbow community in South Africa. At the age of only 22, a heartless homophobe decided to take it upon himself to brutally put an end to our black lesbian's lIfe. Mpho Gift Makau was strangled using wire, a hose pipe with running water forced down her throat, raped and left lifeless in her own home on the 15th August.
Such an inhuman act to end a person's life because of who they are. It is with great sadness that such acts are never given the attention they deserve to a point where it happens so often. Do the screams of the victims while they're fighting to catch the next breath, vanish the minute they're declared "gone"? It is excruciatingly painful to realize that these become news only to the queer community. Every heterosexual person I told this story to had no idea it actually happened. The media decides it's not that important to spread and pay tribute to a life ended so brutally. Even to the queer community, everybody mentioned this tragedy, wrote Facebook statuses a day after it happened. Two days later, everyone has "forgotten" and went back to living their lives.
We all know death is an inevitable end to a life cycle. However, no human deserves their lives terminated this way. Mpho was a daughter, a sister, a friend to many, and possibly a lover. Her death will always be the greatest of pain to all her close people and they have to deal with it their entire lives. The rest of the world may feel the loss now, but tomorrow they'll forget about her, but her loved ones never will.
At Pride, we march every year so the world can acknowledge our existence as an LGBTIQ community. The constitution acknowledges our existence, but provides no protection, nor does it put an end to the manslaughter of lesbians and rape. Justice is never served to those who deserve it. These killers are among us in our societies only because the law allows them the privilege to kill and be free. Does this mean a queer life is of less significance? How many more lives should be crudely lost in order for our screams to be heard. A right to live and be who you are requires no price of shed blood. It is a right that should be provided to every living soul.
I'd like to believe persons committing these brutal crimes have no souls. They must have never experienced the loss of their loved ones. Let me put it this way, I doubt they even have families and friends. Even so, that gives them no fucking right to decide who lives and who dies.
The sadness and anger that consume me as I write this is crippling. No existing words can begin to do justice expressing the way Mpho Gift was murdered and the torture she was put through just for being a lesbian. Let alone the trauma confronting her family and friends. What saddens me more is the fact that these harsh realities reach only the ears and eyes of the queer community. The perpetrators do not confront their evil doings. The media couldn’t care less about intensely broadcasting news concerning the LGBTIQ community. How does this enforce change? The less the brutal murders of lesbian are exposed to the entire community, the more the future brutal murders will happen.
Sadly, the death of our fellow sister will soon be "forgotten" by many up until another murder takes place, then we will be reminded again because the law has little interest in putting an end to hate crimes.