Busi Kheswa is an oral historian as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activist from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. She is most notable for directing the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW). FEW works to promote and protect the rights of LBT women in South Africa.

Career

Kheswa is a member in multiple organizations that are involved in LGBT rights in South Africa, including the Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA) and

Lesbian and Gay Equality Project The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP), formerly known as the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE), is a non-profit, non-governmental organization in South Africa that focuses on the expansion of LGBT civil rights in South A ...

(LGEP) as well as FEW. GALA is an organization that records the struggles and histories of LGBT South Africans, and uses their stories for documentaries which challenge homophobia and promote gay rights. Kheswa was in charge of acquiring histories for the visual collections put together by GALA, as well as contributing to public education projects. The LGEP is an activists group that works on improving the legislation to ensure the freedom of LGBT South Africans. As a director for the FEW foundation, Kheswa's work has been instrumental in lobbying for protection against hate crimes, including

corrective rape Corrective rape, also called curative rape, as well as homophobic rape, is a hate crime in which one or more people are raped because of their perceived sexual orientation such as homosexuality or bisexuality. The common intended consequence ...

s against women, which happen routinely and often go unpunished, despite being in opposition to South African law which states that LGBT people have fair and equal rights. Women often face physical torture, rape, and even death. The FEW was established in 2002 in Johannesburg, and uses a variety of tools to increase the recognition of gay rights including leadership programs to encourage people to stand up for themselves and their communities, organization of campaigns that lobby for hate crime legislation, and health rights projects.

Personal life

Kheswa is also an elder at Hope and Unity Metropolitan Community Church, which is Africa's first openly gay congregation.

References

External links

Forum for the Empowerment of Women
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kheswa, Busi LGBT Protestants South African LGBT rights activists Living people Oral historians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century South African LGBT people