Blasphemy, inciting towards racial hatred – especially Islamophobia, violation of the citizenship rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Mauritians, homophobia, sharing hate instead of love, over the past days we have witnessed our flaws as humans in not being able to understand and accept another fellow human and their diverse queer and religious identities; despite we asking for the acceptance of our LGBTQ communities in Rainbow Mauritius.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT?
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In view of the events and incidents around the 2018 Pride gathering, death threats directed towards members and activists of the LGBTQ communities and Islamophobic and Homophobic messages which amounts to incitation towards racial hatred; the Young Queer Alliance:
- Reaffirms that the Association is not involved with the Islamophobic post “Allah is Gay” on Facebook. The YQA severely condemns this act and deplores that the authorities have shown complacent attitude towards same. The act amounts to inciting racial hatred towards Muslims and which is criminalised under Section 282 of the Criminal Code;
- Regrets the actions of a group of a good few hundreds of individuals gathered at Place d’Armes on Saturday the 2nd June 2018 and which is contributing towards hate for people of Muslim faith and LGBTQ people;
- Regrets that on being aware of the said Islamophobic post, authorities have shown poor and derelict leadership and did not communicate nor acted to deter people from exchanging Islamophobic and Homophobic messages with acute implications of incitation to racial hatred towards Muslims and jeopardising the safety of LGBTQ individuals;
- Requests authorities to follow-up on threats that members and activists of the LGBTQ communities received; The YQA will also follow-up with regional and international institutions on same in view of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s recommendations for Mauritius received in 2017 and other mechanisms of similar functioning;
- Regrets inaction from and poor leadership of local authorities following publications of unfounded news in local and international press around the 2018 pride gathering with severe inaccuracies and jeopardising people of Muslim faith and promoting Islamophobia and harming the image of Mauritius; and,
- Request authorities to amend Section 282 of the Criminal Code for more severe penalties and to include people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity following recent events and in respect of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s recommendations for Mauritius received in 2017 and in line with other United Nations’s treaties for LGBTQ persons.
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In light of these troublesome events, among all the strong emotions and passion around human rights and religious freedoms, the YQA humbly presents its apologies on behalf of the LGBTQ community for any hate that have been intentionally or unintentionally diverted towards people of Islamic and other faiths.
Furthermore, the YQA thanks the Council of Religions for its well moderated and responsible statement issued (https://defimedia.info/communique-du-conseil-des-religions-…) which shall inadvertently help in bringing the situation under control.
The YQA also earnestly advises LGBTQ individuals to prioritise their safety in these times of insecurities.
Moreover, the YQA encourages its members and those strongly fighting for equal human rights to be responsible in their reactions and work towards ending the hate towards LGBTQ individuals as well as people of diverse faiths.
LET US JOIN HANDS TO BUILD AN INCLUSIVE AND EQUAL MAURITIUS FOR ALL.
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