President Ramaphosa, as AU Chair you must fight for LGBTQI rights throughout Africa
29 February 2020
Note to Editors: The following remarks were delivered today by the DA Leader, John Steenhuisen MP, at the Cape Town Pride Festival.
Good afternoon, my fellow South Africans. What a beautiful day in a beautiful city! And what a great sight to see so many Capetonians out their numbers in support of the LGBTQI community.
Less than a quarter of a century ago, this gathering would have been illegal, but here we are today proudly celebrating the right to be whomever we want to be, and to love whomever we want to love. It is fitting to call this movement “Pride”. There is every reason to be proud, because what we see here today is the culmination of a generation’s selfless struggle for equality and dignity. We have come so far over the past two decades.
And Cape Town, in particular, can feel proud. There is not another place in South Africa that embraces and cherishes the LGBTQI community like this Mother City does. Cape Town has long been a friend and ally to the LGBTQI community, and many of the advances in the fight against discrimination were pioneered here first.