‘White’ Joburg gay pride bashed as frivolous
JOHANNESBURG Pride has become an elite “celebration of whiteness and freedom” while gay people living in townships continue to be persecuted, says the woman who founded the event 27 years ago.
Beverley Ditsie said she no longer supported the event, which will take place at Melrose Arch next Saturday.
She has the backing of gay rights activists such as former Johannesburg Pride board member Thami Kotlolo.
“Who are we talking to in Melrose Arch? I feel the event is too commercialised,” Kotlolo told the Sunday Times.
Johannesburg Pride organiser Kaye Ally denied that the event was not inclusive.
But Kotlolo said the “struggle of gay men and lesbians in the township was different from those in urban areas. Three years ago . . . we used to organise transport for those who couldn’t afford to get to and from Zoo Lake, where the event was held.” Melrose Arch “caters for the privileged majority — white gays — and only a few black gays”.
Celebrity makeup artist Muzi Zuma said he would not attend as the event “has lost its focus and no longer celebrates the life and the struggle of all gay men, transgender people and lesbians in the country. The inner city is where we are harassed and called names.”
Ditsie and the late activist Simon Nkoli held the first South African Pride parade in 1988.
“As we marched from Braamfontein through Hillbrow to Pieter Roos Park in Parktown, the group swelled from about 10 to more than 800. For us, that was a signal of things to come.
“But after 1996, when discrimination based on sexual orientation was outlawed . . . the white gay men saw no point in protesting.” This was despite continuing attacks on homosexuals — particularly lesbians — in townships.
Soweto Pride was formed in 2004 by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women. Project manager Phindi Malaza said Soweto Pride had been postponed this year after police classified it as a medium-risk event, increasing security costs.
In response to the criticism of Saturday’s event, organiser Ally said: “The reality is the generations have changed and we have to make Pride relevant for the younger generation.
“We are a Pride for all. We know corrective rape is not right, but we cannot focus on one aspect, we need to cater for the whole LGBT community.”
She said more than 7 000 people were expected. “The event is not funded and [we] are in no position to provide transportation for anyone as Johannesburg Pride is . . . a nonprofit.” RAINBOW NATION: Johannesburg Pride’s parade in 2008, when it was still held at Zoo Lake