The Ethics, Gender and Sexuality Symposium was held on 24 March at the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Health Sciences and was chaired by Prof Michael Pepper. At present there is a great amount of interest in the topic, being highly newsworthy globally. Although this the Symposium seems quite far removed from the work done at FABI, MSc student Bianca Jardim was invited to speak at the symposium. Her talk used the genetic basis of insect sex determination and behaviour to illustrate the diversity of sex and sex-specific behaviours in the Animal Kingdom. This was followed by a series of seven other speakers of a range of professions: a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a theologian, medical doctors, and a social scientist. The Saturday morning also allowed for discussions after each talk where interesting insights and relevant debates were shared. Together, the speakers and audience helped emphasise the importance of a multidisciplinary approach (science, bioethics, religion and the relevance of the South African constitution) in avoiding discrimination and stigmatisation regarding gender and sexual diversity.

Photo caption: 

From left to right: Prof MS Pepper, Ms B Jardim, Prof JA Nel, Prof G Lindeque, Dr G Grobler, Mrs M Crewe, Dr E Moshokua. (Absent from photo: Prof B Pityana).