Bill on sexual identity withdrawn

The amendment says it seeks to “ensure that transgender and intersex children are allowed gender affirmation medical procedures and healthcare with their consent, and their legal documents be changed to align with their new gender identity”.

The second amendment was by Itumeleng Rantšo, the MP for Likotsi constituency, under the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party.

Rantšo’s amendment says parents should not label their children as male or female when they are born until they are old enough to make their own decision as to their sexual identity or until their gender is medically confirmed by health professionals.

The withdrawal came after MPs condemned the amendments as an affront to Basotho’s Christian values and ethos. They said the Bill is also against Basotho’s culture and norms.

A civil society group, Christian Lawyers and Ambassadors Association, also waded into the dispute writing to Speaker of Parliament, Tlohang Sekhamane, informing him that they would sue if parliament went ahead and passed the amendments.

Reverend Paul Masiu, from the Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC) party, fired the first shots telling Phooko that the amendment, which had been seconded by Rantšo, would not be allowed to see the light of day.

Both Phooko and Rev Masiu’s political parties are supporting the RFP in parliament.

“The amendment seeks to introduce behaviour that is not known among Basotho as a nation and it is grossly against the Basotho customs and beliefs,” Rev Masiu said.

“It is also against Christianity,” he said.

His protest was that Phooko had sneaked in the amendment among many other amendments in the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act 2011 that were already in the process of being passed.
The list of amendments were read for the third time in parliament on Monday and were passed.

These amendments entered the House from the Social Cluster after a careful study and consensus of the committee members. The controversial amendment was later added to the Bill at a later stage.

“She is a member of the same committee but instead of having allowed the amendment of her interest there she brought it in the House through the window,” Rev Masiu told thepost after the session.

“This amendment of hers has not been discussed with other stakeholders as is required by the law,” he said.

Mootsi Lehata from the Democratic Congress (DC) party said the amendment should not just be temporarily withdrawn but must be thrown out for good.

“Hon Phooko is a member of the Social Cluster committee that made that Bill,” Lehata said.

“How come she failed to voice out her amendment in there and not come into the House? It is not allowed by the standing orders,” he said.

Withdrawing the amendment, Phooko said: “We have made a mistake by writing transgender and inter-sex, we just have to separate them.”

The amendments were met with fierce criticism by the Christian Lawyers and Ambassadors Association.

“Kindly note that in terms of the law of God, there are only two genders namely: male and female,” the association’s letter reads.

The association also argued that in terms of the Act, a child is someone below the age of 18.

“Note kindly that no children shall proffer uninformed medical consent to have their gender altered without parental consent,” it reads.

“This proposed motion is against the law of God and the public moral convictions (boni mores) of the Basotho nation protected in section 4 of the Lesotho constitution.”

The group argued that the amendments cannot be passed without offending the law.

“The proposed passing of this law had already collapsed in the Social Cluster Committee and the reforms process and someone in dark cloak is adamant, at all costs, to have this immoral law passed.”

They asked Sekhamane to forestall the passing of the motion and the attendant amendment to permit direct public participation and consultation and the involvement of the church.

“The Devil cannot hide anymore and is out prowling like a lion seeking the one he may devour,” the letter reads.

“It is the duty of parents to protect the threatened physical and spiritual lives of their children,” it reads.

“We are aware that the Devil shall hide behind the instrumentality of law to achieve his unfortunate goals.”

The lawyers said if Sekhamane does not heed their warning, they would “have no alternative but to seek urgent reliefs from the High Court for the best interests of the children”.

Advocate Borenahabokhethe Sekonyela, who is also a Sesotho traditionalist and law lecturer, said the proposed law would “create problems even to generations to come”.

“It is wrong on all fronts,” he said.

“If such a child decides to undergo initiation when he grows up, what would I say I am initiating?” he said, adding that “I oversee initiation of young men and women, not a person whose sexual identity is somewhere in between”.

Advocate Sekonyela argued that it is a known fact that some people are born with two sexual organs “but they are always known whether they are men or women”.

The Matrix Support Group founder and executive director, Tampose Mothopeng, told thepost that his organisation is the one that pushed for the amendment of the Act especially with regards to issues of gender identity.

Mothopeng, born a girl but now living as a man, said they want to ensure that “forced or coerced medical interventions related to intersex characteristics should be legally prohibited”.

“Any person performing non-emergency medical interventions without full, free, and informed consent should face legal consequences,” Mothopeng said.

“Infanticide, violence, and other forms of violence against intersex and transgender children should be treated as criminal offences,” he said.

“The government of Lesotho should ensure legal recognition of intersex and diverse gender identities.”

Mothopeng said there are people who have health complications, including men who have symptoms of menstrual periods, “because they are actually women, not men”.

“I know of several cases of such men in Lesotho, including one in Quthing district who is currently undergoing trauma,” he said.

Mothopeng said many children who were born with two sexual organs and their parents decided to remove the other (of the parent’s choice) organ “have been misidentified as either a boy or a girl”.

“Many of them discover that they have been given sexes opposite to those given to them when they were born and unfortunately surgical operations performed on them removed their correct organs.”

 

Nkheli Liphoto