Cape Town - South African Afrikaans musician Steve Hofmeyr, who is no stranger to controversy, has been ordered to pay compensation to a LGBTQ+ organisation after he was taken to the Equality Court for his hateful comments.
On Monday, the parties agreed to a settlement between the two applicants - OUT LGBT Well-being and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and Hofmeyr at the Gqeberha High Court, sitting as the Equality Court.
OUT is a registered non-profit organisation that works to ensure the health, well-being, and human rights of the LGBTIQ+ community.
According to Mambaonline, the case follows Hofmeyr’s rant on his social media in April 2022.
I have watched this rant on Disney by Steve Hofmeyr a few times to make sure I am actually hearing what he is saying.
— Bianca van Wyk (@BiancavanWyk16) April 2, 2022
Surely this is hate speech directed at the LGBTQI+ community? pic.twitter.com/oT6mfuN3bZ
In a video, the singer told his followers that the LGBTIQ+ acronym included those who engage in bestiality and that members of the LGBTIQ+ community were in support of grooming children.
Hofmeyr’s video stemmed from the viral clip about Disney promising to be more inclusive about LGBTIQ+ identities after its employees conducted a walkout for not standing up for equality and allegedly censoring LGBTQ+ content.
In his video, which has since been removed from his social media feeds, Hofmeyr stated:
“Disney’s warned the world that it’s going to change its characters for children to every LGBTQ+ preference under the sun,” commented Hofmeyr about the furore.
“While my generation learned to speak to mice, ducks and dogs, our children will be taught how to have sex with mice, ducks and dogs.
“You think it’s weird, but let me tell you why I’m saying this. Those relationships with animals are part of that ‘+’ at the end of the LGBTQ; that includes those kinds of relationships with animals”.
After his rant on social media went viral, OUT lodged a hate speech complaint with the SAHRC and he was taken to the Equality Court in June 2022.
According to the online publication, in the agreement, Hofmeyr has agreed to publish an apology to members of the LGBTIQ+ community on all his social media platforms.
He abided by this and publish his apology on Sunday.
His apology ready: “During the past 11 months, a lot was said, and Equality Court proceedings followed about a video I posted on my Facebook profile in which, amongst others, I criticised a policy decision by the international media company, Walt Disney Incorporated, for the latter's decision to attribute sexual identities to their movie characters.
“I made a comment about the LGBTQ+ community that caused a lot of upset in many circles.
“I acknowledge that the comments, that led to the Equality Court proceedings, were hurtful to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I regret the hurt and offence caused as a result of the comments and apologise unconditionally to members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as any other member of public that was offended by my comments.
“My attorney informed me that the complaint laid by the South African Human Rights Commission and OUT LGBT-Well-being was accordingly settled and our settlement will be made an order of the Equality Court during the course of next week.(sic)”.
Hofmeyr has also been ordered to pay OUT a settlement amount of R100 000 as well as cover its legal costs.
A condition of the settlement will see Hofmeyr participating in diversity and inclusivity awareness conversations to be presented by the SAHRC.