Cape Town – South Africa should reject discrimination against sexual orientation as it has done with racism, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said on Friday.

“Can you imagine me having said it’s unjust to penalise something they cannot do anything about, their race or gender, and then to keep quiet when people are hounded, people are killed, because of their sexual orientation?” he asked.

“I think it’s as utterly unjust as racism ever was.”

He was speaking at the launch of the United Nations “Free & Equal” global campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality in Cape Town.

Tutu said he would do “almost anything” in support of the campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of homophobic violence and discrimination.

He said this discrimination was based on something people were born with and could do nothing about, just as with race.

“We speak of them and say: No, they are a peculiar breed. They are not a peculiar breed. That is precisely what we are saying, that they are human beings.

“I don’t know why we are so surprised. They have gifts, they can become judges. They can become all sorts of wonderful things.”

Tutu said religious leaders had an important role to play in changing people’s ideas about homosexuality and gender.

– SAPA