- What if you have a gay child tomorrow - Sarina - BONELA condemns ill treatment on the LGBTQ community
With the passage of time, life seems to get complicated for the bubbly Maun socialite and gay, Opelo Sarina Mosweu, as he often has to contend with homophobia in all its forms.
The 23-year-old Sarina, found himself soaked in blood recently at Lunar Bar when a man attacked him with a broken bottle, all because he is gay.
"He insulted my parents and specifically said my mother should have aborted me. The moment I tried to make him stop by telling him off, he attacked me with a broken bottle and stabbed me three times on the face, shoulder and on the arm,” Sarina told this publication.
He said it hurts him to recall that he was stabbed after being told that he was dressed up like a stripper and trying to imitate lifestyles of gays in South Africa, when he was only dressed up in a crop top and a mini skirt.
Unlike past incidents, this has been the most painful, especially that his family has accepted him for who he is but strangers have to ruin his life.
“I’m already on the social media space, and I was hoping for possible collaborations with any brands who would want to work with me. I was only starting but someone had to leave me with scars that are obviously going to kill my confidence,” he said, further clarifying that he mingles with a lot of people for his survival as he sells different things to earn a living.
What triggers him the most about this incident is that no one wanted to give him a ride to the hospital. Instead, people made fun of him and took pictures and videos while he was in pain, until one man came to his rescue and took him to hospital.
“People watched me in pain and continued to take video pictures of me in this painful state,” he said. He told this publication that the good Samaritan also like the rest, gave him an attitude, as he started shouting at him on the way, telling him that had he not chosen to be gay, none of this would have happened.
“What pains me is that I did not choose this lifestyle but I was born like this,” Sarina said.
He has reported the matter to the police. “I have his picture and so I’m currently assisting the police to get him. Seeing him punished for what he did to me would simply give me a peace of mind as I hope it shall teach people like him to treat everyone with dignity and respect,” Sarina said.
Station Traffic Officer in Maun Police station, Superintendent Nelson Kelebetse confirmed knowledge of the incident and that they have since charged the perpetrator with assault, but are still to locate him. He further advised people to refrain from assaulting others at entertainment spots, saying that this has become a norm.
“We receive many cases of assault from entertainment spots and so it is my plea to the general public not to engage in such acts because assault is a crime,” he said.
Early this year in April, Sarina was raped and he reported the matter to the police. Last year in March, someone burnt him with a cigarette. “They took off my wig then pressed the cigarette right through my eye such that my
lashes fell off. Being insulted especially at entertainment spots by strangers has always been something that I experience but chose to ignore,” he said.
Sarina never had it easy growing up because of discrimination. He recalls one incident at junior secondary school when he had to oppose a debate motion that 'being gay is evil.'
“I stood my ground and tried to explain that we were all created in God’s image and didn’t choose to be gay and so there is nothing evil with being gay,” he said.
Sarina first realised that he was gay as a standard one pupil at primary school. “All my older siblings are men, and so my mother was advised that if she wanted to conceive a girl child she should dress me up in girls’ outfits and so she did exactly that with me.
“I grew up wearing girls' clothes but I also had these strong feminine hormones within me before even anyone noticed,” he explained. That this is why it was easy for him to come out of the closet and live his life freely.
Sarina’s main concern is that some people in his community are still ignorant and discriminate gays. He said that although there is a few that support him and love him for who he is, he lives a life of horror as a lot of people choose to make his life a living hell by judging him.
Sarina further told The Midweek Sun that as a result of stigma, many people are afraid to get out of the closet. In addition to the humiliation he suffers in public, some follow him to his house, where they often throw stones on the roof, screaming his name. "They throw stones on my rooftop saying I should wake up, and literally call me gay ke wena," he said.
Executive Director at the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), Cindy Kelemi said that it is sadly true that some lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons do experience persecution especially at community level.
“They suffer stigma and discrimination and also suffer violence. We don’t understand why someone would feel justified to exercise this level of violence on another human being,” she wondered.
Kelemi said that the community should come together to ensure that the police do their job by ensuring that those who are responsible for such acts face their crime and justice is served.
“Those who have committed this heinous crime of assaulting people just because they don’t like who they are, should be locked behind bars because this is where they belong,” Kelemi said.
“In our view, this is human hate crime because you are basically persecuting someone because you just hate who you are,” she said, noting that this is why at BONELA, they have always advocated for laws that protect people from discrimination, violence, persecution and all degrading attitudes and behaviour.
She also emphasised that at the same time, there is need to work within communities to change their mindset and attitude towards the LGBTQ community because their rights can only be realized if everyone within the communities also recognizes that they also have rights.
“As communities, we have a responsibility to ensure that those rights are promoted, protected and most importantly fulfilled. For as long as we have people in the community who see the LGBTQI not as right holders then we are bound to see these kinds of incidents which are really regrettable,” she said, adding that they condemn such acts in the strongest terms and call on all societies to also condemn such actions.
“These actions are not at all synonymous with who we are as a people or with the concept of Botho,” she said, emphasising that those who exercise such should be condemned.
The 23-year-old Sarina, found himself soaked in blood recently at Lunar Bar when a man attacked him with a broken bottle, all because he is gay.
"He insulted my parents and specifically said my mother should have aborted me. The moment I tried to make him stop by telling him off, he attacked me with a broken bottle and stabbed me three times on the face, shoulder and on the arm,” Sarina told this publication.
He said it hurts him to recall that he was stabbed after being told that he was dressed up like a stripper and trying to imitate lifestyles of gays in South Africa, when he was only dressed up in a crop top and a mini skirt.
Unlike past incidents, this has been the most painful, especially that his family has accepted him for who he is but strangers have to ruin his life.
“I’m already on the social media space, and I was hoping for possible collaborations with any brands who would want to work with me. I was only starting but someone had to leave me with scars that are obviously going to kill my confidence,” he said, further clarifying that he mingles with a lot of people for his survival as he sells different things to earn a living.
What triggers him the most about this incident is that no one wanted to give him a ride to the hospital. Instead, people made fun of him and took pictures and videos while he was in pain, until one man came to his rescue and took him to hospital.
“People watched me in pain and continued to take video pictures of me in this painful state,” he said. He told this publication that the good Samaritan also like the rest, gave him an attitude, as he started shouting at him on the way, telling him that had he not chosen to be gay, none of this would have happened.
“What pains me is that I did not choose this lifestyle but I was born like this,” Sarina said.
He has reported the matter to the police. “I have his picture and so I’m currently assisting the police to get him. Seeing him punished for what he did to me would simply give me a peace of mind as I hope it shall teach people like him to treat everyone with dignity and respect,” Sarina said.
Station Traffic Officer in Maun Police station, Superintendent Nelson Kelebetse confirmed knowledge of the incident and that they have since charged the perpetrator with assault, but are still to locate him. He further advised people to refrain from assaulting others at entertainment spots, saying that this has become a norm.
“We receive many cases of assault from entertainment spots and so it is my plea to the general public not to engage in such acts because assault is a crime,” he said.
Early this year in April, Sarina was raped and he reported the matter to the police. Last year in March, someone burnt him with a cigarette. “They took off my wig then pressed the cigarette right through my eye such that my
lashes fell off. Being insulted especially at entertainment spots by strangers has always been something that I experience but chose to ignore,” he said.
Sarina never had it easy growing up because of discrimination. He recalls one incident at junior secondary school when he had to oppose a debate motion that 'being gay is evil.'
“I stood my ground and tried to explain that we were all created in God’s image and didn’t choose to be gay and so there is nothing evil with being gay,” he said.
Sarina first realised that he was gay as a standard one pupil at primary school. “All my older siblings are men, and so my mother was advised that if she wanted to conceive a girl child she should dress me up in girls’ outfits and so she did exactly that with me.
“I grew up wearing girls' clothes but I also had these strong feminine hormones within me before even anyone noticed,” he explained. That this is why it was easy for him to come out of the closet and live his life freely.
Sarina’s main concern is that some people in his community are still ignorant and discriminate gays. He said that although there is a few that support him and love him for who he is, he lives a life of horror as a lot of people choose to make his life a living hell by judging him.
Sarina further told The Midweek Sun that as a result of stigma, many people are afraid to get out of the closet. In addition to the humiliation he suffers in public, some follow him to his house, where they often throw stones on the roof, screaming his name. "They throw stones on my rooftop saying I should wake up, and literally call me gay ke wena," he said.
Executive Director at the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), Cindy Kelemi said that it is sadly true that some lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons do experience persecution especially at community level.
“They suffer stigma and discrimination and also suffer violence. We don’t understand why someone would feel justified to exercise this level of violence on another human being,” she wondered.
Kelemi said that the community should come together to ensure that the police do their job by ensuring that those who are responsible for such acts face their crime and justice is served.
“Those who have committed this heinous crime of assaulting people just because they don’t like who they are, should be locked behind bars because this is where they belong,” Kelemi said.
“In our view, this is human hate crime because you are basically persecuting someone because you just hate who you are,” she said, noting that this is why at BONELA, they have always advocated for laws that protect people from discrimination, violence, persecution and all degrading attitudes and behaviour.
She also emphasised that at the same time, there is need to work within communities to change their mindset and attitude towards the LGBTQ community because their rights can only be realized if everyone within the communities also recognizes that they also have rights.
“As communities, we have a responsibility to ensure that those rights are promoted, protected and most importantly fulfilled. For as long as we have people in the community who see the LGBTQI not as right holders then we are bound to see these kinds of incidents which are really regrettable,” she said, adding that they condemn such acts in the strongest terms and call on all societies to also condemn such actions.
“These actions are not at all synonymous with who we are as a people or with the concept of Botho,” she said, emphasising that those who exercise such should be condemned.
