In 1996, South Africa became the first country in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ten years later, in 2006, we became the fifth country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage and remain the only African country to have done this.

We’re smack bang in the middle of Pride Month in South Africa, which will culminate with the biggest Pride event in Africa: Johannesburg Pride. Joburg Pride is turning 34 this year and will take place in Sandton, Africa’s richest square mile, on Saturday, 26 October. It’s set to celebrate all the wonderful strides the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQIA+) community in Mzansi has made. 

While the Constitution provides for some of the best protections for the LGBTQIA+ in the world, there is a divide in who enjoys these protections the most. Like everything in South Africa, there is a pretty glaring class divide, even in a community that preaches unity. 

A divided community

The very first Joburg Pride was held on 13 October 1990. 

The event was put together by the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW). Out of fear of being identified and targeted by authorities, many of the 800 or so participants covered their faces with masks or paper bags. Remember, this was during  Apartheid and at the time, being lesbian or gay in South Africa was illegal, thanks to the Immorality Act.

Speakers included the late gay anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli, queer filmmaker Beverley Ditsie, gay Dutch Reformed Church minister Hendrik Pretorius, and Edwin Cameron, who later became the first openly gay and HIV-positive Constitutional Court judge.

Like everything in South Africa at the time (and now, if we’re keeping it real), even organisations were segregated according to race. So, it’s no surprise that the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA), an LGBT rights organisation founded in 1982, would not take a stance on anti-Apartheid activism, leading to their removal from the International Gay and Lesbian Association in 1987. GLOW was founded in 1988 and was made up of primarily Black gays and lesbians. Simon Tseko Nkoli, Beverley Palesa Ditsie and Linda Ngcobo were the organisation’s founding members.

Nkoli famously said at the first Pride: “I am black and I am gay. I cannot separate the two parts of me into secondary and primary struggles. In South Africa, I am oppressed as a black person. And I am oppressed because I am gay. So when I fight for my freedom, I must fight for both oppression. All intolerance. All injustice.”

It’s surprising then that Joburg Pride, the spiritual successor of that first brave march, has continuously faced allegations of being exclusionary to Black LGBTQIA+ people. The organisation has been accused of pinkwashing the history of the community in South Africa. Pinkwashing describes the practice of promoting LGBTQ+ rights or support as a way to distract from or downplay negative aspects of a company, government, or organisation’s policies, practices, or actions. It often refers to situations where support for LGBTQ+ causes are used as a marketing strategy without a genuine commitment to the community or its issues. For example, for many White, LGB South Africans, their fight ended when South Africa legalised same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, Black Queer people, particularly women and transgender people from townships and rural areas, are fighting the scourge of homophobia and transphobia that often manifests in violence against them or even in them losing their lives. 

Perhaps an incident that highlighted this divide most perfectly was when, in 2012, activists from the One in Nine campaign staged a protest – a “die-in” – in front of Pride participants. They lay on the road alongside several mannequins, all rocking purple t-shirts with the message “Stop the war on women’s bodies.” They also held up banners that read “Dying for justice” and “No cause for celebration.” They were calling for a minute of silence in honour of those who had been raped or killed because of their sexual orientation. They were, instead, met with attacks and calls for them to “go back to your lokshins (townships)”. The Pride organising committee, in their response, said that they were committed to “promoting a non-sexist, non-violent, non-racial and non-discriminatory community.” This came across as tone-deaf, especially in a country like ours where the divide between the rich and poor is so vast. 

There have also been calls to make the celebration more inclusive. For example, it has been held in places that are inaccessible and expensive to impoverished people. In 2017, when the event was held at Melrose Arch, the organising committee was accused of being “elitist.” The organising committee defended itself, saying, “There is a different kind of pride associated with being in a world-class complex such as Melrose Arch… it lets Pride have the same quality as [those in] New York, San Francisco [and] London.” Again, it’s quite tone-deaf. 

The way forward

While Joburg Pride remains one of the most successful Pride events on the African continent, it’s not the only local Pride celebration. Soweto Pride started in 2004, and it is one of the country’s most political Pride celebrations. It doesn’t get large sponsorships like Joburg Pride but is notable for the number of diplomats and politicians that attend to show their support. For example, this year, they celebrated their 20th anniversary with speakers like the Deputy Minister of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, Steve Letsike. “We still face serious violence against LGBTIQ persons, particularly black lesbian women. Soweto Pride embodies and celebrates the existence of the queer community while also highlighting the social ills rooted in our country. We’ve made progress, but we need to focus on truly thriving as a queer community,” she said. This sounds like a Pride celebration Nkoli would have loved. 

We need Pride celebrations that are inclusive and safe and touch on the problems within the community, such as rampant drug use, mental health challenges, unemployment and domestic violence. We need Pride celebrations that are less like a party and more like holding politicians accountable. It’s become more critical for the activism side of Pride to make a return as political parties like the uMkhonto we Sizwe party, led by notorious homophobe Jacob Zuma, are gaining support and are calling for the repeal of all the gains we’ve achieved. 

As we close off Pride Month with Saturday’s celebrations, there’ll be, no doubt, discourse on the nature of Pride Celebrations in Mzansi. The middle and affluent class are looking forward to a day of partying and celebrating the gains set out by the constitution, while hate crimes against femme and trans individuals in townships and rural areas are only on the rise. While the rest of us are at afterparties, those from poorer backgrounds will navigate their way home, wondering if they’ll get there safely and without incident. And that is nothing to be proud of.