LGBT rights exist only on paper in Africa, says Desmond Tutu's daughter

Mpho Tutu-van Furth, the daughter of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, spoke about the discrimination of homosexuals in Africa at a human rights congress held in Johannesburg on Tuesday. She mentioned at the event that even when there are laws protecting LGBT rights, discrimination still existed.

"People continue to be victims of discrimination, even though on paper you are entitled to fair treatment and protection," said Tutu-van Furth at the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) Congress. "These protections are not part of the experience for many people," she added.

Tutu-van Furth had to give up her ministry when she married her female partner, Marceline van Furth, in the Netherlands last year. In an interview with the The Guardian, she expressed her dismay when the Anglican Church asked her to give up her license to practice her priestly ministry.

"My father campaigned for women's ordination, and so every time I stand at the altar I know that this is part of his legacy. And it is painful, a very odd pain, to step down, to step back from exercising my priestly ministry," she said.

Marceline is an atheist but the former priest said that this was not an issue for her. Tutu-van Furth mentioned that Marceline would respect her beliefs and attend mass with her. Other priests offered to give up their licenses to express their support for Tutu-van Furth but she reportedly refused.

She disclosed in her speech at the FIDH Congress that she and her partner were not experiencing discrimination and they were receiving support from their family, friends and colleagues.

Tutu-van Furth commended South Africa as a leading example of democracy in the continent but she clarified that the effort to maintain democracy should continue. "Human rights and democracy are not an event. They are a process that has to be lived, created and recreated," she said to African News Agency.