Will you marry me? This is the question thousands of gay and lesbian South Africans are preparing to ask—or answer—come 1 December. To be able to ask this question, and really mean it, is an exciting prospect. But it can also be scary, because marriage is a serious commitment. We are all quite familiar with the social implications of this commitment, but what does it mean legally? What exactly are the ...

There are those among us who choose to embrace the heterosexist institution of marriage without question or qualm; those who will enter it but with the intension to change it from within; and those who wish it would wither and die. Melanie Judge explores whether, despite the legal reforms afoot, same-sex couples should marry at all. Should we marry? A brave question that the LGBT community has not sufficiently begun to grapple ...

“In many countries, HIV prevention programmes are not reaching the people most at risk of infection, such as young people, women and girls, men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users, and ethnic and cultural minorities.” From the UNAIDS Press Release accompanying its 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update. Later in the same document we read this: “The AIDS Epidemic Update underlines how weak HIV surveillance in ...

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 ...

When the Gay Association of South Africa (Gasa) was formed in the early 1980s, it immediately set up a newsletter for its members. Called Link/Skakel, this monthly newsletter was a humble A5 booklet. Because I had the computer equipment, I became editor/compiler, with Alex Robbertze as able subeditor and assistant. Soon the booklet became so popular that after only six issues we took the bold step of changing it to a tabloid-size ...

For World AIDS Day this year, I have a wish: a wish for a miracle of messaging and marketing, followed by a miracle of practical delivery (both preferably performed by a pink fairy). A miracle that will get a three-pronged message effectively out and across, to every person on our continent, and particularly to the (many) men amongst them who have sex with other men. The first and most important message ...

In March 2008 OUT released the Prism Project needs assessments reports which found that both gay men and lesbians indulge in risky casual sex encounters and thus expose themselves to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV. They concluded that some sort of intervention is needed to address the situation. OUT LGBT Well-being is a progressive non-profit organisation in Pretoria. PRISM is the PRevention Initiative for Sexual Minorities, funded by the Dutch Ministry ...

Die Equusite dae, toe gay liefde verbode was …..‘n Terugblik op die “Struggle” Ai skatties, die paranoïese arrestasie van my en veertien mans meer as ‘n jaar terug by Camp David vir “openbare onsedelikheid”, het my genoop om die pen op te neem en julle te vertel van die dae toe ons óók toegesluit was op klagtes van openbare onsedelikheid wanneer twee mans met mekaar in KLUB EQUUSITE gedans het! Betty Bangles het ...

Ivan Toms was a passionate and dedicated activist. He was a prominent figure in the LGBTI rights movement in South Africa, a member of the anti-apartheid struggle and a leader in the anti-conscription movement. Born in Durban on 11 July 1953, he matriculated at DHS and qualified as a medical doctor at UCT in 1976. Two life changing things happened to him while putting himself through University: he became a committed Christian, ...

Kyk, dat ‘n gay nou die ondenkbare gedoen het deur ‘n Kerk na die Hooggeregshof toe te sleep, nogal oor ‘n gay kwessie, verg moed en durf! Dawid teen Goliat! Johan Strydom, die man met vaste beginsels en geen twyfel oor sy homoseksuele oortuiging en verhouding met God nie, het sowaar die saak teen die Moreleta Park NG Gemeente gewen, (nie dat ek ooit getwyfel het nie, after all, ons het ...

Another World AIDS Day message? Yes! Please read me. I’m not going to be long. And I’m going to be clear – and hopeful! So much gloom surrounds AIDS. And so many of us experience so much pain and difficulty on these occasions. We think of the loved ones – the family and colleagues and friends we've lost to AIDS. We think of those who ...

February 11 to 13 were the first days of the trial of four men accused of murdering lesbian soccer player, Eudy Simelane, at the Delmas Circuit Court, Aged between 18 and 24, the men appeared before Judge Moses Mavundla on the charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape. Three of the co-accused - Khumbulane Magagula, Johannes Mahlangu and Themba Mvubu pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Accused number ...

We recieved a letter requesting that we publish some simple and clear information on Gay marriages. An Info sheet on the act has been drawn up by OUT LGBT Well Being, on behalf of The Joint Working Group. a national network of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations, as follows: Activate WITS; Behind the Mask; Cape Town Pride Festival; Durban Lesbian and Gay Community and Health Centre; Forum for the Empowerment ...

As many of us have been saying for many years, homosexual HIV statistics may be much more alarming than those for the heterosexual population, and research now supports this. Speaking at the 4th South African AIDS Conference, Professor Laetitia Rispel from Wits University and Dr Carol Metcalf from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the principal investigators of the Johannesburg / eThekwini’s Men’s Study (JEMS), called for further research to confirm the ...

Recently I went to watch some high school pupils hearing about HIV as part of their Life Orientation programme. About 800 pupils in Grades 10-12 at Allen Glen High School in Roodepoort, to be precise. I was lucky enough to sit next to one of their teachers in the packed hall and she told me her pupils were a bit bored with the topic and she was hoping it would be ...

There have been some famous Helens on the left of South African politics, notably Helen Joseph and Helen Suzman, and Helen Zille is set to join their ranks, but NOT as the first out lesbian premier of the Western Cape, as Wesley Kgang of COSAS would have us believe. At a rally held by Mkhonto we Sizwe veterens in Cape Town on Wednesday 27 May among many disturbing statements was one that ...

OUT LGBT Well-being is now 15 years old. Over the years the organisation has grown and expanded its services to LGBT people. OUT’s work have proven to be much needed and complementary. OUT provides excellent direct services, do research, mainstream LGBT issues within service provision such as health care and lobby for legal reform and protection. OUT has had many successes in the past including playing a leading role in securing ...

There was a sense of excitement and expectation in the air recently in the North West Province. SMS messages were sent this way and that, and everybody was buzzing with the news that gays and lesbians finally have a place to go to in the North West Province. It has been a long time coming and now it seems that news travels fast. OUT Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) Well-being (North West) opened its doors ...

“JOBURG ROCKS TO THE BEAT OF PRIDE 2009” blared the Pride press release. Note the party metaphor. First mistake: life's not all a party, especially for queers, as even the names of our service organisations attest: OUT LGBT Well-Being, Health4Men. We all love a party, but many of us also suffer rejection by family and peers, need counselling, attempt suicide, are raped and sometimes even killed. Organisers estimated fifteen thousand gays and ...

Keith Goddard, a human rights defender of tremendous courage and tenacity, died 9 October after a short illness. The Director of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), Goddard helped transform what had been primarily a social organisation with a mostly while and middle-class membership into a political group whose membership both reflected and served the broader LGBTI community in Zimbabwe. GALZ made international headlines in 1995 when Mugabe called homosexuals “worse than pgs ...

It fascinates me how, just as we somehow need an event like Mother’s Day to remind us to suddenly appreciate our moms, it takes World Aids Day to focus our collective attention on HIV. Although many of us are infected and all of us are unquestionably affected by HIV, the issue has somehow slipped under the gaydar and many of us seldom give it a thought as we drift through our ...

December. For many, the promise of Christmas. The child-like resurgence of hope, an emotional spring-time. The “effort” of re-connecting with seldom-seen friends and family. The exchange of gifts. The advertising frenzy seeking to unburden one of one’s spare – or not so spare – cash. Consumerism. All this and more, as we all know. But December also begins with World AIDS Day (WAD). This day is really another form of advertising campaign. ...

Jon Qwelane is to become South Africa's ambassador to Uganda, according to Sunday newspaper reports of 17 January. Remember Qwelane published an article in 2008 with a picture of a man marrying a goat in which he praised Mugabe's homophobia and called for changes to our constitution to prevent same sex marriages. No doubt he also subscribes to the dangerous myth that homosexuality is un-African, an aberration that came to the ...

Here's a 'taste' of what Cape Town Pride 2010 will have on offer from 20 February to 7 March. More details at www.capetownpride.org 1. Pride Pageant, 20 February: 2. Pride Divas, 22 February: Venue: On Broadway theatre Join us for this year's ever-popular Pride Divas event, featuring the Mother City's most fabulously notorious ...

GYMNOS, The South African Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender Naturist Association was officially launched on New Year's eve. The name Gymnos is taken from the Greek word for naked. Gymnos has subsequently become affiliated to the South African Naturist Federation(SANFED). For the first time in South African naturist history, the gay voice will be heard in matters of national naturist interest. This is especially relevant to the drive to legalise Sandy Bay in ...

Charl van den Berg, from Cape Town, won the Mr. Gay South Africa™ title in 2009, and has now been chosen Mr Worldwide Gay in Oslo, Norway. The competition was previously known as Mr. Gay World and the 2010 winner was announced on 13 February. Charl and the other 32 delegates from all the continents of the world were judged over a four day period from 10 – ...

The Gay and Lesbian Network, a nonprofit organisation based in Pietermaritzburg is to re launch its Helpline service. This new service will be more effective in reaching the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Intersex) community, as the Helpline services are now extended and callers will be able to access the counsellors more frequently. The Helpline is managed by a team of about 20 trained lay counselors, who have being trained by Lifeline ...

This year the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras celebrates its tenth year between 27 April & 2 May. Originally started as a means of bringing business to the Knysna area in one of its quiet times, while simulateously promoting pink talent, the Pink Loerie has become a prominent feature on South Africa's gay calendar. Of course, this Mardi Gras has not been without controversy, and right-wingers and other fundamentalists have tried ...

LGBT Network – Namibia was launched on 24 April near Swakopmund. After the Independence of Namibia, the Prime Minister announced the protection of Gay and Lesbian individuals under the law. The Namibian Constitution in several instances guarantees this protection and allows homosexual Namibians to function in the Namibian society and carry out their rights and duties as citizens of this Sovereign State. Article 5 of the Namibian Constitution deals with the Protection ...

It takes only a spark to ignite a fire; in Afrikaans they say n goeie begrip het n halwe woord nodig, and so too it is with Gymnos, the South African Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender Naturist Association. True naturism is proving to be very popular indeed judging by the impressive Gymnos membership numbers that continue to grow daily, spreading like a wild fire all over the country – admittedly fanned ...

Joburg Pride has announced its theme for the 2010 Joburg Gay Pride Day and Parade, set to take place at Zoo Lake Sports Club on Saturday 2 October. Highlighting the deteriorating human rights landscape for lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people across Africa, Joburg Pride will reminding the continent's people, politicians and religious leaders, as well as particpants in the parade, that ""We're ALL African." The 'We're ALL African' theme is a call ...

The search for the ultimate gay man in South Africa, 2010, is on! Last year's winner, Charl van den Berg, went on to also win the Mr Gay World competition, so these are big shoes to fill. This year will see four ‘Regional Finals’ of which the winner and the first runner-up will automatically qualify as finalists in the Mr Gay South Africa 2010 competition, producing 8 finalists. 1. East – ...

DISCOTEC is the new gay dance club started in Johannesburg by Stuart Hillary. A superior clubbing experience is guaranteed for gay party personalities and their friends every Saturday night starting August 2010. The music industry fluctuates and changes all the time. Stuart Hillary is one of the few artists to stay one step ahead of the rest by innovation and by setting trends musically, whether it is on the dance floor, in ...

The Gay Games opens in Cologne Germany on 31 July, with a South African connection. The official anthem of the Cologne games is the “Facing a Miracle” and will be performed by one of music's most dynamic artists, Taylor Dayne and South African group iL Quinto. Taylor Dayne’s unique vocal style has earned her numerous best-selling gold and platinum albums which produced seventeen Top 20 singles, among them number 1 ...

The Fifa World Cup must rank as the biggest international event ever staged in South Africa. And it's marvellous that we pulled it off successfully especially in the face of far-fetched suggestions in British tabloids that visitors to SA needed bullet-proof vests! No bombs went off, no team buses were highjacked, in fact, I'm sure there was no more pick-pocketing than would be found in any comparable cities in the world. ...

Justin Fashanu was a black British soccer player. He was the first soccer player to be transferred for one million pounds. He was the first British professional soccer player to come out publicly as gay, in 1990, and he was also the last. He had a difficult life. First, his parents separated and put him and his brother John in a children’s home. As a soccer player he endured racist insults. ...

Joburg Pride, the largest and oldest gay and lesbian event on the African continent, will be celebrating its 21st birthday on Saturday 2nd October 2010 at Zoo Lake Sports Club. The 2010 Pride Parade, featuring a host of colourful floats and thousands of revellers, will kick off from Zoo Lake Sports Club at 10am through the streets of Rosebank. Participants should note that this is an hour earlier than in previous years ...

The South Regional Finals of Mr. Gay South Africa 2010 was held in Cape Town on 07 August 2010 at The Glen Boutique Hotel in Sea Point with Chris Hattingh, manager and co-owner, who hosted the event. The competition was attended by friends, family and supporters of the contestants as well as members from the LGBTI community of the Mother City such as well-known “Spin Sister” DJ Mitzi, local drag performer ...