Gay is here to stay!

Our Destination

Take my rights? I don’t think so!

Taking to the streets

So earlier this month a traditional leaders called for the Civil union act to be abolished. Patekile Holomisa, head of the Congress of tradional leaders, and a member of parliament, appealed to the government to debate removing a constitutional clause protecting people on the grounds of sexual orientation. This however has far greater implications than just that of gay marriage.

Gay is here to stay

The ruling party has thus far distanced itself from the comments made by Holomisa and said that the issue would not be up for debate. Regardless of the ruling party’s statement, we, as the LGBTI community were having none of that!

Sluticia, Miss J, Amanda, Nanku and Nikki with the Gay flag of South Africa

The narrow minded bigot then went on to say that people were gay simply because the correct rituals were not followed at certain stages of their lives (as is done in certain cultures in South Africa) or at least, that these rituals were not done correctly. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but in that case all heterosexual people would have undergone said ritual regardless of their race and culture?

Melanie Lowe with Amanda and Sluticia

Not taking this lying down ,the LGBTI community was mobilised in four of the largest  cities in the country, with the Johannesburg and Cape town protests taking place on Saturday, and the Durban and Port Elizabeth pink people taking to the streets on Sunday, and the Modern L crew were out in full force at each of the venues to show our support!

The Modern L crew with Genevieve LeCoq

Myself, Nikki, Sluticia, Minxy and Nanku and Amanda volunteered as Pink marshals and we proudly carried the gay flag through the streets of Jo’burg all the way to Constitutional hill. Every news channel in the country aired images of Nikki dancing in the streets and directing traffic and the rest of the crew proudly sporting our Modern L shirts while the crowd waved flags and carried banners with clever slogans, telling Holomisa exactly where to get off!

To hell with Holomisa

The gathering at constitutional hill left us with mixed emotions. The powers that be refused to accept our memorandum but the speakers left us chanting and cheering as their speeches touched our souls. Melanie Lowe kicked off proceedings with an amazing message and a personal insight into her marriage and family life, ending off her speech by  saying we should live our love and prove that we should be taken seriously and got us all shouting her personal motto, “I choose me!”

Melanie Lowe adresses the crowd

Amandla! Then it was time for yet another speaker, Virginia Mgwaza- Setshedi  to make her voice heard and this was one speech I will never forget! “Holomisa wants a ritual, he’s going to have to slaughter a lot of goats…” and “Holomisa is NOT the chief in MY bedroom”! We were hysterical and the crowd went wild! Then the fabulous organisers took centre stage to give us the important message of always remembering that our rights are under threat by extremists and narrow minded people who do not understand the importance of true love, diversity and tolerance. They reminded us that these protests were critical in protecting our rights as the LGBTI community and if we let them take this away from us, it will in future not only undermine the rights of the gay community as human beings but also the rights of women, children and minorities.


Virginia Mgwaza- Setshedi 

Amandla!

With that being said, we were amazed at the strong turnout at this peaceful protest, and we want to personally thank Genevieve LeCoq and Monique Walker for the incredible initiative in Johannesburg and for making The Modern L a part of it! We salute you fabulous ladies for keeping the gay flag flying high and for fighting the good fight!

Genevieve LeCoq, Melanie Lowe and Monique Walker

We were rather taken aback that so many of our community chose to sit this one out though. From a community of literally millions, only about a thousand eager freedom fighters showed up? What would you do if one day these very rights were taken away? Would it then matter that you had a hangover or that you wanted to sleep late or that you wanted to make a few extra rands by getting in a few hours of overtime or that you didn’t want people to see you on social media platforms and on the news? It took us years to get where we are now, so would one morning out of your busy schedule have changed your life? Newsflash, it will change your life if you don’t have these rights any more. Ask our friends and readers from countries who don’t have equal rights and what they’d be willing to do to have the same freedoms we currently enjoy! Bottom line is, we are NOT a minority, but as long as we keep acting like one, we’ll be treated as such. The fight is far from over girls, take a stand and join us by signing the petition (http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Protect_our_constitution_and_the_rights_of_gay_people_in_South_Africa/?cimoIab)! You wouldn’t want anyone else saying “I do” on your behalf in front of the altar, so why would you let them say “you can’t” in front of parliament?

What we're fighting for

"If you can't change yourself to suit the world, change the world to suit you" - Miss Jones

Photography by: Linda - Imagery photography
                            Nanku Meyer