Archbishop Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, spent his life campaigning for human rights. The activist and hero to millions tragically died on Sunday (26 December), aged 90.
South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa described Tutu’s passing as “another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa”.
Desmond Tutu was a major opponent of South Africa’s apartheid system and worked for universal suffrage, equal rights for women in the Anglican Church his controversial support for LGBT+ rights and advocacy regarded by many as contrary to African cultural values put him at odds with many on the continent.
The protagonist of the name Rainbow Nation” given to south Africa was a mark of his push for acceptance of western LGBT+ values on the continent.
In a video for the United Nations Free and Equal campaign in November, the UN’s “global campaign against homophobia and transphobia”, Tutu said: “I have to tell you, I cannot keep quiet when people are penalised for something about which they can do nothing.
The video was shared by LGBT+ Rights Ghana, one of the few groups advocating for the human rights of queer Ghanaians, whose members literally put their lives on the line.
The group celebrated “Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu [calling] for an end to punishing people because of who they are or whom they love”, a message particularly pertinent to the LGBT+ community in Ghana.
Public hearings began this month on the country’s Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021.
While gay sex is already illegal in Ghana, the bill would go even further, targeting LGBT+ identity itself. It would specifically criminalise anyone is “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, pansexual, an ally, non-binary, or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female”.
All of those listed, even allies, could face three to five years in prison if found guilty of the crime, which would become a second-degree felony.
The bill would not only criminalise being LGBT+, but also every aspect of queer life, from affirming medical care to public displays of affection like holding hands.
When he publicly declared his Gay status going against christian tenets it drew the ire of the Anglican community in which he represented and further dividing an institution that had managed cracks of discord between traditional members and new age followers seeking liberal freedom.
However his imapct on the continent remain undeniable Nigeria’s Former President Olusegun Obasanjo described the death of Tutu, as a personal loss.
In a condolence letter forwarded to the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, Obasanjo said Tutu played a vital role in Nigeria’s journey to debt relief with the Paris Club in the early 2000s.
Analyst hold that he will be fondly remembered as Africa’s elder stateman with his push for a rainbow nation is the only dark shadow cast on his legacy.
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