Allies of the queer community have the power to speak up when injustices are prevalent.
This is according to Leon Coetzee, a second-year MBChB student at Stellenbosch University (SU) and the chairperson of SPECTRUM. Coetzee was a speaker during a recent panel discussion on allyship, hosted by the SU’s Equality Unit.
The panel, titled ‘Confronting barriers to inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community’, took place on 22 September via Microsoft Teams.
This is according to Qaqamba Mdaka, case coordinator at the Equality Unit.
The event was moderated by Fanelesibonge Ndebele, shared humanity module and shared humanity learning coach module coordinator at SU.
The panel included three panellists: Coetzee, Nicole Alexander, chief executive officer of The Inner Circle and head of the Pride Shelter Trust, and Elliot Kotze, counselling psychologist and researcher.
The topics discussed were ‘What does allyship look like on campus?’, ‘Access to healthcare and safety’ and ‘Mental health challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community’.
“The queer community needs to be understood and included,” said Jaco Brink, head of Stellenbosch University’s Equality Unit, when concluding the recent ‘Confronting barriers to inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community’ panel discussion. AUDIO: Tamara Wicomb
Allyship as the first barrier
The general definition of allyship is “the quality or practice of helping or supporting other people who are part of a group that is treated badly, though you yourself are not a member of this group”, said Coetzee.
However, this definition creates the impression that the queer community is “so damaged and needs to be put back together, when, in fact, we are resilient as hell”, said Coetzee.
Rather, the core of allyship is empathy, stated Coetzee.
“The impact that an ally makes, will always remain.”
Stellenbosch University’s Equality Unit’s sole mandate is to provide “staff and students with services, training and interventions to combat gender violence […] and give support with issues related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and allies (LGBTQIA+) community”, according to the unit’s website. PHOTO: Tamara Wicomb
Lack of knowledge
South Africa’s public facilities are often unable to provide care for LGBTQIA+ individuals, said Alexander at the event. There are many LGBTQIA+ patients who experience discrimination from healthcare workers, said Alexander.
“[This is because a] majority of South Africans still believe that homosexuality should not exist in [our] society and that it is ‘un-African’,” said Alexander. She recounted research from Dr Alexander Muller, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cape Town focusing on “access to health care for sexual and gender minorities, and curriculum development for sexual and gender diversity in health sciences education”.
“Gender can be quite broad. It’s not just the female and male, there is a whole spectrum,” said Nicole Alexander, chief executive officer of The Inner Circle and head of the Pride Shelter Trust, at a recent panel discussion. PHOTO: Tamara Wicomb
Holistic health
“Amongst trans and gender-diverse people, there is an ordinate high number of suicidality incidences and [people who require] mental health care,” said Kotze at the event.
It is very important to think of mental health care as an integral part of overall holistic health, said Kotze. The world is catered heavily towards cisgender individuals and often tends to exclude the queer community, he stated.
“Be reselective, radical allies […] and consider this mental health care issue on a global intersexual systematic level,” stated Kotze.