Both oppressed and oppressor are robbed of humanity

All human rights are linked. As Nelson Mandela said:

I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

Which is why Mandela was a champion of our rights. Jim Borroway of Box Turtle Bulletin provides a few details.

* The African National Congress, with Mandela as president, added an LGBT-rights plank to its platform in 1993.

* Also in 1993 the interim constitution included a ban on discrimination because of sexual orientation. South Africa was the first in the world to put our rights in its constitution.

* In 1994 Mandela appointed an openly gay, HIV-positive judge to the High Court of Appeals. That led to marriage equality. South Africa is the only nation in Africa that provides equality.

* In 1996 the permanent constitution was adopted and the ban on discrimination was kept.