25 Jul 2022

The constitution of Botswana should do away with any form of discrimination and stigma that translate into systematic oppression of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, (LGBTIO) says Mr Thato Moruti. Mr Moruti, who is LEGABIBO Chief Executive Officer, brought this and several other issues to the attention of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the review of the constitution of Botswana at Maruapula community centre yesterday. 

He said as LGBTIQ community, they were also saddened by how health organisations branded certain pandemics as LGBTIQ-centred problems which he said further fuelled discrimination against them. 

“Just recently, the Centre for Disease Control alluded to the fact that the monkey pox disease is an LGBTQI disease,” he said. 

According to Mr Moruti, the constitution should therefore recognise every person without requiring disclosure of their tribe, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification or sex characteristics. 

“This right speaks to issuing of identity documents to all Batswana despite their tribe, race, gender expression and sexual orientation and sex characteristics,” he said, adding that such a right would allow for an easier and faster way of changing one’s identity documents without invoking the rigmarole of court process. 

He proposed that LGBTIQ rights should be entrenched to avoid leaving decisions affecting them to politicians alone. 

Botswana should be a champion of human rights, which it should not sacrifice for culture and religion as was evident during kgotla meetings addressed by the commission, he said. 

Mr Moruti also called for the constitution to recognise second generation rights, in particular those of mental health, provision of targeted health services as well as training of health personnel to offer stigma-free targeted services. 

“Some of the deliverables for the right to health are the provision of free transitional therapy for persons with gender dysphoria, the trans-diverse community, health care workers curriculum promoting stigma-free inclusive services as well as national funding for an all-inclusive health service,” he further said. 

On surrogacy and adoption, Mr Moruti called for the constitution to allow every citizen including the LGBTIQ community to form families of their choice. 

Once adopted, he said this right would allow for the establishment of fertility and sperm banks and allow people to get into surrogacy arrangements. 

For his part, LEGABIBO’s head of policy and legal advocacy, Mr Caine Youngman decried discrimination against the LGBTIQ community in the workplace and called for constitutional entrenchment of the right to favourable employment. 

He submitted also that LGBTIQ persons like any other vulnerable persons were in need of the government’s social benefit schemes to better their lives. 

“Social security will help vulnerable people who are not children or elderly in times of need. This could include the youth, LGBTIQ, adults living with disability or mental illness and adults living with chronic and debilitating illness,” he said. Ends