Cape Town - Zizipho Pae is remaining steadfast in her religious conviction that she does not need to apologise for her Facebook status update slamming a US Supreme Court ruling last week legalising same-sex marriage.
Pae’s statement, “We are institutionalising and normalising sin! Sin. May God have mercy on us”, sparked an outcry which led to her being suspended as the acting president of the UCT SRC.
The SRC has since e-mailed Pae, asking her to explain her statement and whether she would apologise or retract her statement.
Pae’s response via e-mail was leaked to the Cape Times on Thursday. “As a Bible believing Christian, I want my first response to be that the core/fundamental message of the Bible is about a God of grace and love, who forgives sin…” she wrote.
Pae added that there are scriptures which refer to homosexuality as sin. “What I inferred… was not something new. I do not believe that this, in the context of a God of grace, who forgives sin, can never (sic) constitute as condemnation, hate speech or homophobia,” her e-mail reads. Pae was elected to the SRC last year on the back of a campaign in which her slogan was “Here I am, Send Me”, a phrase she said was from the Book of Isaiah in the Bible.
Pae insists she is not homophobic and has always treated people with the same level of respect, regardless of their sexual orientation.
“The intention of my status was not to hurt or anger anyone.
“I am a firm believer that we are an important people, born with a sinful nature but above all, that we have hope for… forgiveness of all sin, in Christ Jesus. Shalom.”
SA Students Congress (Sasco) UCT branch chairperson Siyabonga Ntombela, speaking on behalf of the UCT Queer Revolution, said:
“We must problematise the fact that Zizipho Pae chose to address her response to the SRC president, while pained queer bodies who have demanded that she account to them directly continue to be ignored,” he said.
“Homophobia, much like racism, is also predicated on disproportionate power. Merely thinking about this dynamic as just the hate or fear of queerness misses the point.
“Her arrogance and refusal to resign and apologise aggravates the pain from the violence she inflicted on us… As her queer electorate, we demand that she publicly apologise and resign.”
SRC president Ramabina Mahapa said Pae’s statements had left the student body divided on what action to take.
“Some members feel she should be dismissed and others feel it was freedom of speech. We are seeking legal advice and will meet on July 21,” he said.
Cape Times