By Lwando Scott
Lwando Scott is a senior researcher at the Centre for Humanities Research of the Western Cape. His focus is on gender and sexualities in the postcolony. Scott is interested in the nature of post-apartheid freedom.
His scholarship is engaged in the complex ways gender and sexuality are implicated in the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. Scott is interested in expansive ideas and practices of freedom that go beyond normative, nationalist and racialised boundaries.
Scott says: “While South Africa has progressive legislation, there are signs that the anti-gender, anti-homosexuality, and anti-rights movement is making its way in South Africa.
“This is a movement that has been mostly present in the Global North, particularly in North America. The narratives being bolstered by these movements are travelling from the Global North extreme right-wing politics, and it is starting to influence public discourse in South Africa.
“This was made clear when the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics guidelines created to aid schools in helping gender-variant children were highly politicised in South Africa in ways that are similar to the North American context. The same happened with the rights of children and teenagers to have puberty blockers.
“In South Africa, we need to be vigilant against the insidious ways that these anti-rights movements are infiltrating our country.”
