Tag: South Africa

The Dutch Reformed Church has announced plans to be more inclusive of same-sex unions and apologised for past homophobic discrimination. The church’s apologie came during a General Synod meeting where it was decided to adopt a position “in which everyone’s human dignity is respected.” As a result of the decision, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC)

A South African Pastor who was fired from the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church has decided to challenge the decision in court, claiming that he was fired for his open support for LGBTI equality. According to reports by The Star, Teboho Klaas has taken AME and Bishop Paul Mulenga Kawimbe (who heads the Church’s 19th

Johannesburg, capital city of South Africa, has been hosting Pride parades since 1990. The organization behind it, the Gay and Lesbian Organization of the Witwatersrand (GLOW), was founded in 1988 and has continuously advocated for progressive change since. The parade in Johannesburg was the first to take place on the African continent. 800 people attended. “I’m fighting for the abolition of apartheid,” said Simon Nkoli, anti-apartheid activist and founder of GLOW. “And I fight for the right of freedom of sexual orientation....

Last summer, we talked to you about how the Gay, South African film Inxeba was publicizing an African tribe’s secret practices without their permission. Now, we have an update about that film. Inxeba, or The Wound, follows a factory worker named Xolani who helps train the young men of his tribe (the amaXhosa) for their coming-of-age ritual. On top of that, the story depicts Xolani’s gay relationship with another tribe member. While many Westerners were excited for the film, to the point...

The recovering addict says he was tortured for befriending another client. A recovering drug addict in South Africa alleges he was sexually assaulted at a rehabilitation facility as punishment for being gay, IOL reports. Mogamat Yushree Jacobs, 36, who immediately went to police after escaping from the Akhbar Rehabilitation Centre in Cape Town, also says he was beaten and covered with human feces. Jacobs, who was addicted to heroin for 12 years, entered rehab about eight months ago and eventually assisted Akhbar...

“Who told you to get dressed?” In the past week, a disturbing and homophobic video has surfaced of two police officers taunting and humiliating a gay couple in Pieter­maritzburg, South Africa. The video (not shown here, although screen grabs are below) is suspected to have been filmed by the two police officers, who caught the same-sex couple engaging in sexual acts in a car at Camps Drift. The video shows the distraught couple with their pants down trying to cover their genitals,...

Gays in South Africa are four times more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. Tyrone Hartzenberg ended his life on December 31 by stepping in front of an oncoming train. The 29-year-old South African had been taunted for years about his sexuality, including being called “moffie” (faggot), and the abuse led him into a spiral of depression and drug abuse. “He was a young boy when he told me that he was gay,” Hartzenberg’s mother, Georgina, told Independent Online News....

A South African man, identified on Facebook as Vuyolwethu Vee Sithathu, is happy about his relationship with his lover, Owamii Owzaa Mti, 16, who apparently is still in High School. Sithathu says he’s so in love with his “man”, and he know being gay is a sin, but then he’s ready to go to any extent, the ends of the earth, even if it’s hell fire for his lover. Sharing some love up pictures with his teenage lover on Facbook, he...

South Africa's Parliament has officially endorsed International Coming Out Day. On Tuesday, MP Zakhele Mbhele (DA), introduced the motion. It notes that the goal of Coming Out Day is to, "create an environment where living openly and honestly as LGBTQ people is possible." It acknowledged the struggle of being LGBT, "one of the most powerful tools of activism because, at its most benign, prejudice and discrimination seek to shame and demean LGBTQ people into silence and invisibility." Lastly, it pledges solidarity, "the...

200 people gathered to participate in Soweto Pride in South Africa. The Pride parade marched through sections like Meadowlands and Dobsonville in Soweto before eventually settling at Dorothy Nyembe Park, a subsection of Johannesburg in the country of South Africa, to protest the increasing hate crimes against LGBTQ people. Going along with that goal, the theme of this year’s march was “Reclaiming Our Right To Organize.” The reason for that theme was not only because of the increase in crimes targeting gay...

A restaurant has defended a policy restricting a ‘date night’ offer to opposite-sex couples. The Lake Restaurant in Brakpan, South Africa advertises a special Thursday night offer exclusively for couples. However, South African outlet Eyewitness News revealed that the owners explicitly ban gay couples from attending under the rules. In a clip filmed by the outlet, a manager denies entry to two men on a date, explaining: “It is not that we discriminate but on our Thursday we have it that it is...