LGBTQI+ community to host show in memory of cabaret queen

A CARNIVAL celebration of the LGBTQI+ community will take place next month, in Lavender Hill, in memory of a drag queen who advocated for gays and lesbians, and fed the hungry in the community. Luke Kriel Hendricks, better known as Gita Hendricks, died in February last year after suffering from tuberculosis.

Gita was one of the founders of the Miss Gay Lavender Hill, since 2011, and was wellknown for running a feeding scheme and singing cabaret. Now, nearly two years after strict lockdown regulations, the LGBTQI+ community will host their first open air pageant, Miss Gay Lavender Hill.

The event is being organised by Clive Jacobs, Ralph Bouwers and several others, and will host 30 contestants from as far as Hermanus, including Samantha Fox Cartersia Carter, Victoria Mwarda Ismail, Victoria Versace, and Kiki von Diamond. The event will take place on November 13 and entry will be free.

Jacobs, who has been one of the forerunners in the LGBTQI+ community for decades, said: “We will have divas who will cabaret – they are coming out to show the potential and what they can do on the stage. Gita used to feed hungry people around the community, and was assisted by her family members.” Jacobs added that the event would see a feeding scheme being run, with a braai and several prizes to be won.

Bouwers, a community activist who is the founder of The Guardians of the National Treasure, which focuses on uplifting the youth by running after-school programmes including soccer, ballet, gardening and chess, will also be part of the event.

“Gita tried, through her charity work, to bring everyone together and this is the aim of the event,” he said. “Now is the time that the LGBTQI+ communities come together – young and old community members must have support groups to inspire each another and give each other guidance,” said Bouwers.

Gita’s husband, Caylim Hendricks told Weekend Argus the event was to honour his wife: “The Late Gita Hendricks had an enormous impact on the LGBTQI+ and Lavender Hill communitieds and left a massive legacy behind.

“Gita will be celebrated at Miss Gay Lavender Hill 2021 and it will be happening on the one year and nine-month anniversary of her death and it will take place at Fawley Court, where the first pageant was held.”

| SUPPLIED LUKE Kriel Hendricks, 25, known as Gita, who died from tuberculosis in February last year.