Eudy Simelane
A South African footballer whose murder drew attention to the violence faced by lesbian women.
Eudy Simelane was born in KwaThema in 1977. She played for South Africa’s women’s national football team, Banyana Banyana, and also worked towards a career as a referee. In her township she was known both for her football and for living openly as a lesbian.
The equality promised by South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution offered little protection from everyday hostility. Simelane’s life and work connected sport with the struggle for acceptance, particularly for women whose sexuality or appearance challenged local expectations.
In April 2008 she was raped and murdered in KwaThema. She was 31. Her death brought international attention to sexual violence against lesbians, often described by campaigners as “corrective rape”.
Two men were convicted in separate proceedings in 2009, one receiving a lengthy prison sentence and another life imprisonment. The first sentencing judgment did not recognise her sexual orientation as the motive. Activists challenged that conclusion and placed the murder within a wider pattern of homophobic violence. Her case exposed the distance between constitutional rights and the safety of people trying to live openly.