Pride parades in South Africa

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Women marching in Joburg Pride parade in 2006

There have been pride parades in South Africa celebrating LGBT pride since 1990. South African pride parades were historically used for political advocacy protesting against legal discrimination against LGBT people, and for the celebration of equality before the law after the apartheid era.[1][2] They are increasingly used for political advocacy against LGBT hate crimes, such as the so-called corrective rape of lesbians in townships,[3] and to remember victims thereof.[4][5][6][7]

Johannesburg

File:Simon nkoli first gay march africa.png
Simon Nkoli speaking at the first pride parade in 1990
Soweto Pride 2012 participants protest against violence against lesbians with a "Dying for Justice" banner and T-shirts which read "Solidarity with women who speak out".
Soweto Pride 2012 participants remember two lesbians who were raped and murdered.

The Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) was founded by gay anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli in 1988.[8] The first South African pride parade was held towards the end of the apartheid era in Johannesburg on 13 October 1990, the first such event on the African continent.[1][2][7] The first event attended by 800 people was initiated and organised by GLOW, and the crowd was addressed by Nkoli, Donné Rundle, Beverly Ditsie, Edwin Cameron and gay Dutch Reformed Church minister Hendrik Pretorius.[1][8][9] In his speech, Nkoli said:[8]

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I'm fighting for the abolition of apartheid. And I fight for the right of freedom of sexual orientation. These are inextricably linked with each other. I cannot be free as a black man if I am not free as a gay man.

— Simon Nkoli (First pride parade, Johannesburg, 13 October 1990)

Section Nine of the country's 1996 constitution provides for equality and freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation among other factors.[1] Over time, the celebration factor came to overshadow the protest factor despite ongoing social issues. The 2012 parade was marred by a clash between activist participants and members of the Joburg Pride organising body,[7][10] and the organising body disbanded in April 2013 due to internal conflict about whether the event should continue to be used for political advocacy. Two new committee's was formed around May 2013 One new committee to be called "Johannesburg Pride" to carry on the history of the oldest and largest LGBTQIA Pride in South Africa & (Africa),[11] The other one committee to organise a "Johannesburg People's Pride", which is "envisioned as an inclusive and explicitly political movement for social justice".[12][13]

Other pride parades held in the Johannesburg area include Soweto Pride which has taken place annually since 2005 in Meadowlands, Soweto,[4][5] and eKurhuleni Pride which has taken place annually since 2009 in the East Rand township of KwaThema.[14][15] On 24 April 2011, LGBT rights activist and eKurhuleni Pride Organising Committee member Noxolo Nogwaza was raped and murdered in KwaThema, in what was described as a hate crime by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.[16][17] Three years earlier, lesbian Banyana Banyana footballer Eudy Simelane was raped and murdered in the same township.[18]

Cape Town

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Cape Town Pride 2014

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See also: Cape Town Pride

Annual pride parades have been held in Cape Town subject to interruptions since 1993, and as part of the Cape Town Pride event since 2001.[1][2] The Khumbulani Pride ("Remember Pride") parade has been held in the township of Gugulethu since 2013, to remember hate crime victims such as 19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana who was stabbed and stoned to death in Khayelitsha in 2006 for living openly as a lesbian.[6][19][20]

The Mother City Queer Project (MCQP) costume party has also been held annually in Cape Town (nicknamed the Mother City) since 1994.[21][22]

Other areas

Pride parades held annually in other South African cities include Durban Pride in Durban and Nelson Mandela Bay Pride in Port Elizabeth, both since 2011.[23][24] The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras has been held in Knysna since 2001.[1][22] Limpopo Pride has been held in Polokwane, Limpopo since 2012.[25][26] Free State Pride has been held in Bloemfontein, one of South Africa's three national capitals, since 2012.[27] On 9 August 2014, a Pride parade took place in Nelspruit, this marked the first time a Pride parade has been held in the province of Mpumalanga.[28][29] One month later, on 6 September 2014, the town of Ermelo (also in Mpumalanga) organised its first Pride parade.[30][31]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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