South Africa has
appointed a gay HIV-positive man to the country's
highest court, reports South African newspaper The Star.
President Kgalema
Motlanthe named vocal AIDS activist Edwin Cameron to
the post on New Year's Eve.
Zackie Achmat,
one of the world's best-known AIDS activists, called the
appointment "one of the best New Year's presents ever,"
according to The Star. He added that the move
"comes at a time when the Constitutional Court needs
judges who will continue its legacy of independence
and rigor."
Though Judge
Cameron has been hailed as "one of South Africa's new
heroes" by Nelson Mandela, he was grilled rigorously about
his activist roots by the Judicial Service Commission,
which nonetheless recommended his appointment
unanimously. He previously served on South Africa's
Supreme Court of Appeal.
Cameron was the
first judge in South Africa to disclose his HIV-positive
status. He told the BBC that he had been inspired to reveal
his status following the death of a woman who was
stoned and stabbed for admitting she was HIV-positive
during a radio interview.
"I thought that
if this woman, without any protection, living in a
township, not behind a palisade like I do in my middle-class
suburb in Joburg, not with the income of a judge, not
with the constitutional protection ... I thought that
I should speak out," he said. (Advocate.com)
