The February issue of Exit which readers will have in their hands soon, is an historic publication: the 200th issue of the newspaper. Exit started its life in the early 1980’s as the newsletter of GASA – the Gay Association of South Africa. This proved popular, and there was a clear need for a gay publication, so soon the newsletter was replaced by a tabloid size newspaper called Link/Skakel, and in 1985 this changed its name to Exit, and Exit we have remained, for what is now nearly 21 years.
Why the name Exit? Apparently, at the time, publishing, buying and reading a gay newspaper constituted a route – an exit - out of the closet. Perhaps such historical associations might be deemed a bit anachronistic these days, when we’re so out we can get married, should we choose. But Exit has been centrally involved in the recording and constructing of gay histories in South Africa, so such historical references remain apt. It is also true that for many gay people in South Africa now, affecting an exit from bigotries and conventional expectations remains a problematical journey. So for them, too, the current title remains relevant as it indicates a beacon of hope as well as a journey to be embarked upon. As we celebrate our 200th edition, it’s pertinent to note the way in which an ingeniously suggestive name now has become synonymous with South Africa’s most telling gay newspaper.
Exit was initially edited by the late David Moolman, then by Henk Botha and Gerry Davidson and appeared periodically. In 1995, with issue 70, I bought the publication and turned it into a regular monthly.
The core of Exit was always its Mens Personals, and there are numerous couples throughout the country who can trace their connection back to the Personals in Exit. Since 1995 the publication has also carried regular sections on Travel, Entertainment, Books, Health and on Local and International News. You can consult Exit for information on gay and gay friendly guesthouses, resorts and cruises. You can find a handyman, masseur, secretary or driver through the Classifieds, or you can advertise your cottage to let, or house for sale. We list all the organizations we know about, and you’ll find counselors, the gay AA, hiking groups and marriage officers there!
In recognition of the diversity of our readership, and as the newspaper has matured, Exit has come to feature several diverse columns. Probably the longest-running is Dainti’s Disclosures, written by the doyen of the country’s drag scene. The Louw Down tells you what’s on and what to give a miss. From Tim Trengove Jones, a leading national commentator on the politics of Aids, gay issues, and other cultural matters, comes a controversial and elegant feature for the publication’s intellectual readership. Foeitog! by an pseudonymous writer using the name Stella Oostehuizen, caused serious disruption among club-goers and drag queens for some years, and they used to rush for the latest issue to read what scandalous revelations had been made about people like Missssster Stardust and Staalwol Bolla.
For a while we had a Xhosa/flytaal column called Umthondo we Sizwe, and now we also have a regular offering by Owen Lonzar, writing as a gay father, and Craig Stadler gives us Craig@Large – the perspective of a large gay man. Evan Tsouroulis, for a long time the man behind the GayZim website, now writes for us from the Mother City.
Probably our most important contributions are, rightly, those that deal with health and identity issues. Dr Dennis Sifris, leading HIV/AIDS clinician, and his partner James Myhre, field questions to Dr D about HIV. Renowned author Robin Malan runs a section for Young Gay Guys where he offers counseling on what is still a difficult time in life, and helps youngsters affect their own, contemporary version of exiting.
Without good writing a publication is moribund. Without advertising revenue, good writing lacks the paper on which it appears. Exit has always drawn its strongest advertising support from the gay clubs of Gauteng. That legendary institution, Champions, advertised in Exit every month from the day it opened until it closed. An A-Z of all the leading clubs has featured in Exit, ranging from Anaconda to Zoo. Clearly there is an intimate symbiotic relationship between a publication and its loyal advertisers. And,
since no publication can survive without advertisers, we all owe special thanks to the owners of these clubs. On the occasion of our 200th issue, we’re therefore especially pleased to thank those clubs represented in our current edition. At this moment, it is not invidious to name names, and we proudly honour oh!, Legends, Ramp Divas, The Factory, Senate, The Rec Room and Destiny. And of course we must mention
the X-files and other phone lines. And, finally, a special nod to Amsterdam Guesthouse in Cape Town, who provide the longest-running advertisement in Exit.
All these advertisers are helping us make history and making history with us.
Sadly, our success with corporate advertisers has been limited. They are, allegedly, scared of alienating their 90% straight support base by advertising in a gay publication. (It’s difficult to know how straights would see their logos in Exit, though!). Usually these people tell us that the budget has been spent (petrol companies and cellphone networks?) or that “We don’t go into niche publications” (Oh, yeah. So what’s Student Life?). Such “excuses” point to the unevenesses in our own long mince to freedom. And, whatever the corporate culture might be, it is time that gay executives, of whom there are many, put their weight behind advertising pitches from gay causes.
Another atrocious evasion is found in response to our attempts to get sponsorship from the Health Department for our HIV coverage and safe sex messages. They just don’t reply. Not only does Exit, at its own cost, carry the only gay-specific HIV/AIDS education campaign in the country but, in our 199th issue, we carried Tim Trengove Jones’s pioneering account of a very specific form of HIV/AIDS denialism in this country, namely this government’s refusal to engage with the specific needs of our gay subculture. The Dept’s indifference makes me wonder whether they care about the wellbeing of gay and lesbian citizens.
This then is Exit @ 200. Here are our successes and failures, warts and all. Importantly, too, here are some of our hopes. We’ve been around 21 years, seen many other publications come and go, and want to thank our readers and advertisers for our longevity. I hope we’ll all busily, courageously, successfully work together on the next 200 editions.