DA and Rise Mzansi calls for speedier Home Affairs process to allow for gender identity changes
Representatives from the two parties participated in an election debate hosted by advocacy group Queer Quantity focusing on issues affecting the LGBTQIA plus community.
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JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) and RISE Mzansi have called on the Home Affairs department to expedite the process allowing for people to formally change their gender identity.
On Friday, representatives from the two parties participated in an election debate hosted by advocacy group Queer Quantity focusing on issues affecting the LGBTQIA plus community.
Some panelists raised concerns about the poor effort by political parties in raising awareness about challenges facing trans and intersex people.
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DA Tshwane Councillor Dikeledi Selowa said that her party supports the right of every person to decide on their own identity.
"If we can change names of provinces at the snap of a finger or cities, then we should be able to do the same for people in terms of their own individuality in how they would want to identify and be represented...as well as having the pride that comes with how they would like to be identified in society."
A member of RISE Mzansi's Queen Collective Lerato Mahogi said that government should not stand in the way of someone's personal decision.
"If you have the freedom of choice, expression, association, you should also have the freedom to be who you want to be and as we sit in a country where a lot of skilled people are unemployed, it does not make sense. These processes should not take too long."