South African imams and gay rights defenders have been shot dead

The South African imam, who dedicated his life to promoting gay rights and tolerance towards LGBTQ Muslims, was shot dead in the coastal city of Gqeberha on Saturday, police said.

Muhsin Hendricks has been praised by some as the world's first openly gay imam. In 2018, he founded the Al-Gurbaah Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provided support services to Muslims who were discriminated against for sexual orientation.

The organization worked to help Muslims around the world soften their sexual orientation, gender identity and faith.

A statement from the South African Human Rights Commission condemned the murder. We quoted footage distributed on social media. There, a hooded man appeared from a pickup truck and fired a shot from the window of a car in a residential area before speeding up. The video has not been verified by the New York Times.

South Africa's Associate Justice Minister Andree Nell said it was too early to say whether the shooting was a hate crime, but he said police were “hot right behind the suspect.”

Hendrix faced intense criticism domestically, particularly on social media.

In an interview with Newsroom Africa, a digital channel in South Africa, Nell said that despite debates over gay rights among South African Muslims, these debates are superior to the country's constitutional protection. He said he acknowledged sexuality.

“They were not clear by reaffirming our constitutional values, the values ​​of multiple tolerance and the values ​​of human respect,” he said.

Hendrix is ​​a prominent supporter of gay people in South Africa and was the first country to decriminalize homosexuality when the Johannesburg High Court ruled in 1998 that existing sodomy laws violated the post-apartheid constitution. It has become.

Apart from constitutional provisions, the 2021 research network survey rated South Africa as the second most tolerant country on the continent when it comes to same-sex relationships after the island state of Cabo Verde.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association said they were “deeply shocked” by the murder. Hendrix led people across South Africa and around the world as he tried to reconcile his faith and life, and was “a testament to the healing that comes from solidarity across the community.” .

South Africa is considered a continental outlier because of its approach to gay rights. Over 30 of Africa's 54 countries have criminalised same-sex couples, and in recent years at least six countries, including Ghana and Uganda, have taken steps towards stricter anti-gay laws.