SOUTH AFRICA: - Highlights African LGBTI Conference (2011): In South Africa, it was noticed that despite all legal changes promoting LGB equality, there are still issues to be addressed, such as the unequal age of consent regarding heterosexual and homosexual interactions. More importantly, there is a huge gap between what has been accomplished legally and the social situation. While the law hardly discriminates based on sexual orientation, socially same-sex sexuality is only marginally accepted. - South Africa's gay betrayal (2007): South Africa is one of the world's most liberal democracies. So why is it failing to support gay rights in international forums? - Gender inequality and corrective rape of women who have sex with women (2009). - Being Straight and Being Gay: Identity or Multiple Desire. The Case of South Africa (2010, Alternate Link). - Transgender Inclusion in the Namibian and South African LGBT Movements (2007): I examine the implications for few activists claiming transgender as a personal identity and the Namibian and South African movement’s embrace of transgender as an inclusive political strategy as activists participate in creating an African LGBT movement. - Sexual Revelations of Male Inmates: Negotiating Sexual Experiences within the Confines of a Prison (2005).

Joburg Pride statement on arrest of gays and lesbians in Vosloorus (2010): "We do not expect special privileges from the police, but we certainly expect them to respect the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians and their basic human rights. The police must be better instructed to understand and protect the dignity and rights of all South Africans as enshrined in our constitution," she said. -  South Africa: Police Harassment Continues After Gay Pride (2010). - Lesbienne en Afrique (2006, Translation): L’Afrique du sud fait figure de paradis pour les homosexuels en Afrique : la Constitution interdit toute discrimination. Mais la réalité n’est pas toujours aussi rose... Mais dans les townships et les régions rurales, la situation vécue par les homosexuels reste très difficile...- Mr. Gay South Africa wins Mr. Gay World 2011 (2011). - Mr Gay World 2012 to give hope to African LGBTI community (2011). - In The Pink: Gay radio in South Africa (2007). - “What's Identity Got To Do With It?” Rethinking Intimacy and Homosociality in Contemporary South Africa  (2009): The article looks at girls' relationships as spaces in which homosociality, same-sex intimacy, and erotic practices can join together; however, the latter is increasingly joined by homophobia. I argue that the “closet” violently jars with some same-sex relationships, such as “mummy-baby” relationships, because they have never been closeted as such..

South Africa's high court approves gay marriage (2005): Decision paves way for homosexual unions, a first for the continent. - Awaiting a Full Embrace of Same-Sex Weddings (2010): More than 3,000 same-sex couples have been married in South Africa, with about half of those couples including at least one foreigner, the government says...  Anthony Manion, director of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action, said the law had largely failed to benefit blacks living in the impoverished townships that stretch for miles outside cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg. In them, gay men and lesbians often face unabashed discrimination and violence; advocates say that a growing number of lesbians have become victims of so-called corrective rapes aimed at ridding them of their sexual orientation. “The vast majority of gay people in South Africa are still shut off from marrying the partner of their choice because of the deep economic inequality, social isolation and cultural exclusion,” Mr. Manion said.  He and others complain that the focus on wedding cakes and floral arrangements distracts attention from far more serious challenges. Melanie Judge, an author of “To Have & To Hold: the Making of Same-Sex Marriage in South Africa,” was far more blunt, accusing white middle-class South Africans of ignoring their black brethren in their rush to the altar. “Marriage is a commodity that’s been branded and packaged,” she said. “The law hasn’t gotten to the depths of prejudice if gay marriage ignores our collective trauma in favor of clothes, makeup and honeymoons.” - Working Class and Gay in South Africa (2010, Video, CNN): If you’re working class–and South Africa is a very social conservative country, with the working classes holding some objectionable views too–and gay, then you condemned to a more precarious life. - Constitutional Authority and its Limitations: The Politics of Sexuality in South Africa (2007). - Beyond the law, homophobia remains pervasive (2010).

Homophobia Trumps Racism in South Africa (2010): We are all aware of the fact that most of our government's policies are covered in a veil of hypocrisy and facade. Our rights, though proudly displayed in our constitution for all to marvel at, are sometimes not worth the paper they are written on. As a gay men in this country you are perceived to be an anomalous being that needs to be tolerated for the sake of the “rainbow nation” farce. Our president is quick to call you derogatory names and the ANC Youth League's leaders would not miss a beat in following suit as he too has shared his disapproving sentiments on the issue... Gay South African especially BLACK gay South Africans should look at what is happening to the white community of this nation and brace themselves for the possibility that they might face the same future. We all know that when it comes to the hierarchy of human existence we are at the bottom... I am black and love this country dearly BUT I am also gay and love my life. We only have to look at our fellow African brothers across the diaspora to see that when the politicians are done destroying the economy of their countries they turn to the minority groups to divert attention from their acts. Atrocities are committed daily against the gay community in Africa and nobody bats an eye except the world's gay community. Sadly we live in a continent that is easily swayed by rants of megalomaniacs and we quickly forget that they are the enemy not two people who want nothing more than to love each other and live in peace.

EPOC: homophobic killings continue in SA (2012): Over the past few weeks, South African townships have suffered a series of murders in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community. The first being of Thapelo Makutle, a 23 year old Gay man in Kuruman, who was killed after having an argument with highly homophobic people, who are also suspected of killing him. The second victim was Phumeza Nkolonzi, who was shot three times in front of her family, in Nyanga: Cape Town. The third victim, Andritha Morifi, a young Lesbian woman in Limpopo who was killed in the most brutal manner. The fourth victim was Neil Daniels, a Trangender in Cape Town. Lastly, Sanna Supa, a Lesbian woman from Soweto was shot dead in her home. There are probably more cases that we do not know about. Even though South Africa is a country filled with crime, we at EPOC believe that these were not random killings but are homophobic attacks on the LGBTI community, the pattern in which they occurred makes us sure of this. The constitution of this country is meant to protect LGBTI rights, but we feel that not enough is being done to find the perpetrators of these crimes, our matters are not taken seriously enough and we are outraged at how incompetent our justice system is and that LGBTI people are still treated very poorly in government institutions by non-sensitised, homophobic and hateful service providers.
 
Arndt, Marlene (2009). Attitudes towards bisexual men and women: the relationship between respondents' attitudes and their sexual orientation. PhD Dissertation, Psychology, University of Johannesburg. PDF Download. Download Page. This study posits that although the South African government has shown an unprecedented commitment to acknowledging and upholding the human rights of bisexual men and women, negative attitudes exist towards bisexual men and women. A mixed method research study was conducted, consisting of three phases... The results indicated that participants’ attitudes towards bisexual men and women vary on a range of factors such as gender, religiosity, contact, and the sexual orientation of the participants. Both heterosexual and homosexual students have more negative attitudes towards bisexual men and women than bisexual students. This double discrimination by heterosexuals and the gay and lesbian community is seldom recognised or acknowledged. Therefore, the current research findings elucidate that this oppression is real, and may have negative psychological effects on bisexual men and women. The results are discussed against the background of previous studies, and suggestions for future research are made.

Bateman, Chris (2011). Transgender patients sidelined by attitudes and labelling. SAMJ: South African Medical Journal, 101(2). Full Text. In spite of an enlightened constitution and enabling legislation, South Africa's small transgender population continues to battle medical prejudice and ignorance in addition to huge societal pressure to conform to socially constructed sexual stereotypes. An Izindaba investigation showed that transgender people need precise information and deep pockets to access hormone treatment and/or gender-reassignment surgery, be it in the public or private sector.

Stephens, Angeline V (2010). An exploration of Hate Crime and Homophobia in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa: The Gay and Lesbian Network. PDF Download. This report presents key findings of a research study commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian Network (GLN) in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The GLN is a non-profit organisation that was established in 2003 in response to the lack of psycho-social support services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)1 community in Pietermaritzburg... This study signals a response to events that have occurred in national and local contexts: i). It is in response to incidents of hate crime that have been reported in South Africa over the last decade. These mainly include xenophobic and homophobic acts. In particular, a number of homophobic incidents, primarily targeting black lesbian women, received significant media coverage and lobbying from various non-government organisations (NGOs) that highlighted the insidious reality of this crime. In particular, the abhorrent murders of Zoliswa Nkonyana in 2006, of Sizakele Sigasa, Salome Massoa and Thokozane Qwabe in 2007 and that of Banyana Banyana captain, Eudy Simelane in 2008 resulted in significant advocacy and campaigning under the auspices of the Joint Working Group2 (JWG) that sought to draw attention to homophobia in South Africa and to bring about justice and legislative reform...

SA gay activists say government rats on constitution (2011): South African supporters of gay rights claim their government has broken the country's constitution by failing to support a United Nations motion condemning violence against homosexuals. - South Africa’s gay human rights disgrace (2008): South Africa didn’t sign the UN decleration on equal rights of LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, intersexed and questioning) people. - South Africa betrays principles on gay rights (2009). - Homophobia Faces Off Against Racism in South Africa (2010): Matjila seems to be suggesting that people who face discrimination for their skin color deserve protection more than those who face discrimination for their sexual orientation. Why does protecting one group of people from discrimination equate to any sort of insult to another group of people?... Matjila’s view on protecting LGBT people from discrimination is both archaic and homophobic. His attitude - and lack of support for UN efforts to protect LGBT people - has no place at the Human Rights Council. - South Africa : Lack of bisexual, transgender and intersex people causes an imbalance in representation (2011, Alternate Link): Director of the Pietermaritzburg Gay and Lesbian Network in KwaZulu-Natal, Anthony Waldehausen admitted that that there is lack of bisexual, transgender and intersex programming among LGBTI organisations.

Teaching About Heterosexism: Challenging Homophobia in South Africa (2011): This article, a critical review of a module on heterosexismand homophobia, sets out the challenges to be overcome if the oppressive conditions for lesbian, gay, and bisexual students and teachers in South Africa are to be changed. It draws on evidence from student assignments, records of participatory discussions and the notes of the authors, who taught the module. - Exploring homophobic victimisation in Gauteng, South Africa: Issues, impacts and responses (2008, PDF Download. Download Page). - South Africa welcomes gay tourists while homophobic violence persists (2009). - Pink Tourism Fact Sheet: Gauteng has a vibrant, diverse gay culture supported by strong community structures, great places to meet and hang out and lots to do. South Africa has one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world, enshrining gay, lesbian, bi and trans‐sexual rights – from same sex marriage to alternative lifestyles – and creating an environment where people can be themselves to enjoy everything fantastic Gauteng has to offer. - Engaging the KwaZulu-Natal Gay and Lesbian Tourism Market: Tourism KwaZulu-Natal's Initial Gay and Lesbian Tourism Strategy. - Bisexual concurrency in Southern Africa (2010, Podcast): Professor Graham Hart (Director of the UCL Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research, UCL STI editorial board member) talks to Dr Stefan Baral (Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins) about his research into bisexual concurrency, bisexual partnerships, and HIV among Southern African men who have sex with men.

SA lesbian killing 'hate crime' (2011): The brutal killing of a South African lesbian activist has been condemned as a hate crime by Human Rights Watch. The US-based group has urged the police to do more to find those responsible for the recent murder and rape of Noxolo Nogwaza. She was stoned and stabbed on 24 April after a row in a bar in KwaThema township, east of Johannesburg. Activists say gay South African women are targeted for what some call "corrective rape". Unlike in many African countries, homosexual acts are legal in South Africa and the constitution outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation.But activists say gay and lesbian people are often attacked in townships. - HRW: Epidemic of hate crimes against gays (2009): The murder of a lesbian activist who was stoned and stabbed to death is part of an "epidemic" of hate crimes against gays in South Africa, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.. - Remembering Eudy, KwaThema’s brightest, killed on its darkest night (2009). - Experiences of Black LGBTI Youth In Peri-Urban Communities in South Africa (2005, PDF Download). - South Africa team to tackle gay and lesbian hate crimes (2011): South Africa is to set up a team to tackle hate crimes against gay people, the justice ministry says. The decision comes after 170,000 activists from around the world demanded action to help lesbians targeted for "corrective rape"...

Matebeni, Zethu (2011). Exploring Black Lesbian Sexualities and Identities In Johannesburg. PhD Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand. PDF Download. Download Page. Exploring black lesbian sexualities and identities is a multifaceted in-­depth ethnographic study of black urban lesbian life in contemporary South Africa. This study, which focuses on lesbian women aged between 17 and 40 years, reads the term lesbian as both a political and a theoretical project. It speaks to current concerns, which raise questions related to the politics of inclusion/exclusion, love, sexuality, identity politics, violence, style and urban space while sensitively giving agency to women’s narratives. In many ways, it enriches and challenges conventional gay and lesbian studies and studies on sexuality in Africa by bringing meaning to the complex interplay between space, style, erotic practice and sexuality. It further illustrates the flexible practices and variable notions of sex, sexuality and gender categories. At the same time it tackles the precarious and painful position of black lesbian women whose lives are an ongoing maneuvering and negotiation between a potentially hostile or violent environment and a country with constitutional protections. The political and theoretical imperative of the study is evident in the representations of black lesbians as occupying subject positions in which they determine the structures and meanings of their lives. Their narratives show that they inhabit the world actively, not only as victims or in relation to others, but also as conscious subjects that make meanings of their lives: subjects who are actively and critically engaging with the world we inhabit. - Matebeni, Zethu (2009). Sexing Women: Young black lesbians' reflections on sex and responses to safe(r) sex. In: Vasu Reddy, Theo Sandfort & Laetitia Rispel (eds), From Social Silence to Social Science Same-sex sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa. Book & Chapters Download Page. - Matebeni Z (2008). 'Vela bhambhentsele': Intimacies and complexities in researching within black lesbian groups in Johannesburg. Feminist Africa 11: 89–96. PDF Download.

Lesbian health: more than screening for breast cancer and mental health (2008): Lesbians are often regarded as being at relatively low risk for HIV and do not have many health issues. However, given the reality that lesbian women can straddle a range of sexual identities, it is important to consider their health needs broadly. A lesbian woman should have access to the range of health services that serve in the continuum or basket of women’s health services. This would include, for example, services for cervical cancer screening, testing for STIs including HIV and AIDS, and information about planning a pregnancy. Lesbians’ sexual and reproductive intentions are neglected and I imagine that there is very limited space for health workers to talk with lesbians who are planning to have a family. Lesbians are vulnerable to corrective rape and gender-based violence from men and men they are in relationships with. They are not immune to violence in women to women relationships and may need access to post-exposure prophylaxis as well as the same services that straight women may need in terms of obtaining an interdict, etc. A recent study conducted by OUT LGBT shows, however, that nine per cent of lesbians self reported that they were HIVpositive. Some 55 per cent said health workers asked questions which insinuate that heterosexuality is the only normal way to be.

LGBTI radio show hits the airwaves. - Gay newspaper launched in CT (2007, Alternate Link): Independent Newspapers in Cape Town launched a monthly niche publication aimed at Cape Town's gay and lesbian readership this week called "The Pink Tongue". - Homosexual Discrimination Against Heterosexuals and Women “Necessary” for Democracy (2006): It’s okay for guest houses catering to a homosexual clientele to discriminate against heterosexual couples, women, and lesbians, the Commission on Gender Equality ruled recently, saying it is a “necessity in our democratic society.” - Black gays the target of hate crimes (2006). - Gayness ‘worse than divorce and euthanasia’ – study (2007). - Homo-Fascism in South Africa. - Freeing South Africa: The "Modernization" of Male-Male Sexuality in Soweto (1998). - Queer Jihad. A View from South Africa (PDF Download. PDF Download)

Researching and working with boys in Southern Africa in the context of HIV/AIDS - a radical approach (2005, PDF Download): Other recent studies on boys and young men in South Africa. (see eg. Ratele et al 2005, and Salo, 2005) have also found how invested many boys seem to be in distancing themselves from other boys they construct as ‘moffies’ or boys who are perceived as effeminate and weak and not very heterosexual. Such characteristics are linked as features of boys who are seen not to be proper boys. The boys’ misogynistic and homophobic performances were intended as assertions of power, yet their effect, ironically, was to restrict what boys could do and say. Ratele et al, 2005, for example, found that boys who were seen to mix with girls as friends were liable to be denigrated as ‘moffies,’ and, in our study, as mentioned, the prospect of being labelled similarly restricted possibilities of boys developing close relations with other boys. I suggest that the idealisation of girls and women by many boys as carers, nurturers, advice givers, is, in part, produced by denying these as identities for (proper) boys. (See Frosh, Phoenix and Pattman, 2002, on the huge costs for boys in general – not just for boys constructed and vilified as gay – of British boys’ investments in homophobia.)... 

A gay lifestyle is okay, but being gay is not (2010, Alternate Link): Gay communities across Africa often run into the sharp end of prejudice against their sexual orientation, yet a transvestite fraternity in the South African coastal city of Cape Town has gained a level of acceptance that allows them to publicly practice their lifestyle with minimal fear of retribution... Marlow Valentine, deputy director of the Cape Town-based Triangle Project, a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, told IRIN that transvestites had been living openly in the city since the early 1960s. "The moffie subculture emerged in District Six in Cape Town during the 1940s and '50s, an inner-city area that truly reflected the idea of a 'rainbow nation', as it was home to people of different ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs during the earlier days of apartheid," he said... "Even though homosexuality was a criminal offence at the time [during apartheid], men who cross-dressed and participated in drag shows were accepted. It seems gay men who retained a level of masculinity were not accepted, but effeminate men were, as their sexual orientation was not seen as threatening," Valentine said... Valentine believes the flamboyant drag queen personas taken on by many transvestites, and the perception that they are successful business owners, have been key to transgender people's ability to integrate more successfully than the general gay population."Transvestites are still known for putting on drag shows in their local communities, and many straight people go to these shows because of the entertainment value, as the shows provide a level of comic relief that is affordable," he said. "They also often run successful businesses, like hair salons and beauty parlours, which usually affords them a level of respect in their communities, because of the high unemployment that exists there. These factors have created a situation ... in which the so-called moffies, or transvestites, have become accepted rather than shunned.".

Camp David Raid (2001): "For the fourteen guys who were humiliated and thrown in jail after a massive police raid at Camp David in Pretoria there have been more than four months of court appearances, severe stress, uncertainty and anxiety about the future. The affects of this matter on their careers and unlawful exposure of their identity by a Pretoria newspaper, all ended in smiles when charges were withdrawn against them before they even pleaded to charges of public indecency. Patrons at Camp David nude bar were arrested on Friday the 17th of November last year during a raid on the club by a platoon of nearly 80 police. After being unlawful photographed in their naked state by police and members of the press, they were thrown into the back of a big police truck and taken to Brooklyn police station where they were kept until the next day before charges were laid due to demands by the lawyers of Camp David to either lay charges or set the men free. The owner of Camp David, Danie Hamman, was also arrested and charges of money laundering, organized crime, indecent behaviour, contravening the liquor act and sexual offences were laid against him... - Camp David club charges dropped N/A: When the police raided the club on November 17, they were met by men wearing only shoes. - Child porn probe at SA's 'Camp David' (2006). - Anti-Gay Hate Crimes: Need for police involvement to curb violence committed against gays (1995). - Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men: Relations With Gender, Race and Religion Among University Students (2006).

Gays fight homophobia in schools (2006). - Gay teens' ordeal (2006): One in five gay and lesbian school children in Pietermaritzburg and Durban are raped or sexually abused at school. This is according to shocking new statistics that show that victimisation of KwaZulu-Natal's gay scholars is widespread. In a 2005 survey, 20% of gay and bisexual men and 19% of lesbian and bisexual women reported having been raped or sexually assaulted when they were at school... The fear of victimisation led to a decrease in self esteem and an increase in suicidal thoughts. Almost one in five surveyed had attempted suicide, according to the report. - Reflections from University Students in a South African Gay and Lesbian Society (2005). - The homonormalisation of white heterosexual leisure spaces in Bloemfontein, South Africa (2008, PDF Download). - The Anti-Gay Politics of South Africa’s “Race War” (2010): The murder of South African white supremacist Eugene Terre’blanche has people wondering if the “rainbow nation” is headed toward another “race war.” Now Terre’blanche’s alleged killers are claiming he tried to rape them. The late leaders’ supporters, however, insist it was the “murderers” who tried to rape him. Any way you cut it, this case shows how homophobia and racism have come together...

HRC intervenes on hate crimes (2007): In a groundbreaking meeting with members of the Joint Working Group (JWG) and other parties concerned, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) revealed intervention plans regarding the case of Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Masooa killed weeks ago in Soweto. The meeting’s aim was to look at how the human rights sector and other interested groups can deal with the murder of the two lesbian activists, Sigasa and Masooa, and come up with a programme of action... - Police promise justice on murder of soweto lesbians (2007). - South Africa: Murder Highlights Violence Against Lesbians: Culture of Fear Undermines Constitutional Protections (2006). - Queer activists in South Africa (2007). - Gay and Muslim in South Africa (2008): Homosexuality remains a taboo in much of the vast Islamic world. Most Muslim clerics condemn homosexuality outright, citing several verses of the holy Qur'an. But one South African imam thinks that they are wrong.

S Africa approves same-sex unions (2006). - L'Afrique du Sud légalise le mariage homosexuel (2006). - South Africa Gay Marriage Bill Becomes Law (2006). - S. Africa's Top Court Blesses Gay Marriage (2005). - Hundreds protest against same-sex marriages (2006). - South Africa fallout from gay marriage ruling relatively light (2005). - Africa's gay haven N/A: As more gay people "come out" in African countries, they are forced to flee and seek asylum in foreign countries because many states condemn homosexuality. The majority of homosexuals tend to use South Africa as a gateway to their liberty as the country is gay-friendly... - Same-sex marriages 'will destroy the zulus' (2007). - Are HIV positive women who have sex with women (WSW) an unrecognized and neglected HIV risk group in South Africa? (2011).

Gay Cultures in Capetown, South Africa. - Gay and Lesbian oppression. - Lesbian and Gay Equality Project welcomes Law Commission report on Same Sex Marriage (2003). - Abstract: Homosexuality and the law: a gay revolution in South Africa, Journal of African Law, 1997. - Activism bursts from townships (2000). - Forging A Representative Gay Liberation Movement In South Africa (2001). (Alternate Link: PDF Download). - Cape Of Good Hope On Screen / The new, queer South Africa (1999). -  Out and very about (2001): Five years after the new constitution recognised the equality of gay people, Gillian Anstey and photographer Elizabeth Sejake went to find out what's really changed. -  The annual Johannesburg Pride Festival - Africa’s largest Gay & Lesbian Pride event, 2003. - Taking Gay Pride to SA's townships (2005). - Johannesburg Gay Pride 2006 "Be Proud.... Speak Out." - Joburg Pride. - Cape Town Pride. - Africa's oldest lesbian and gay event celebrates 20th Anniversary (2009): Africa's oldest lesbian and gay event celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. The 2009 Joburg Pride Day and Parade... - Putting the ‘T’ into South African Human Rights: Transsexuality in the Post-Apartheid Order (2009).

Coelho, Tony (2009). When the Global and the Local Collide: Gay Identity in Brazil and South Africa According to Parker and Reid. Amsterdam Social Science, 1(2): 6-23. PDF Download. PDF Download.- Summary &  Download Page: This article examines the works of Richard Parker and Graeme Reid who both set out to explore the emerging gay communities in non-western societies. In an era of globalisation, western conceptions of a gay identity are spread throughout the world creating what some might refer to as a global gay identity (Altman 2001). However, Parker, whose research is based in Brazil, and Reid, South Africa, reveal the importance of the local in interpreting samesex behaviour. The local and the global intermingle in these societies creating a gay community of its own, while undermining the notion of a global gay identity. The following key themes presented in both these works are compared in order to understand the complex interplay between the local and global in interpreting what it means to be gay cross-culturally: (1) The economic and political developments that have allowed for the influx of modern ideas from abroad and the growth of gay communities, (2) The categorisation of men who have sex with men through unique terminology and their meanings, (3) The gay spaces which have permitted sexual expression, and (4) The assertion of a modern gay identity by local advocacy groups.

Ntuli, Praisegod Mduduzi. (2009). IsiNgqumo : exploring origins, growth and sociolinguistics of an Nguni urban-township homosexual subculture. Master's Dissertation, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. PDF Download. Download Page. PDF Download. Abstract. The emergence of gay subcultures in Africa can be attributed to the colonial entrenchment of homophobia and homophobic laws. This emergence of gay subcultures alongside the merciless homophobia necessitated the creation of secretive forms of linguistic communication amongst the sub cultured gays. Among the Nguni people of South Africa, isiNgqumo emerged as the lingua franca within the Nguni gay subculture. This study focuses on the Nguni gay subculture in Durban and the employment of isiNgqumo by township and city/urban Nguni gay men termed skesanas. 36 young Nguni homosexual men and one older Nguni man were the participants who were interviewed. The methodology that was used in this study was ethnography. The study also relied on a snowballing technique to access numerous of the 36 young Nguni homosexual men. The study found that the Nguni gay subculture of Durban is stratified throughout several places within Durban, it is not one geographical location. Two gay clubs and two gay salons were visited as they are some of the locations where the Nguni gay subculture is located.

Not all SA's gays enjoy greater freedom (2004): "South Africa's gays are enjoying a new era of freedom in cities 10 years after the end of apartheid, but black and coloured homosexuals in townships and villages are still victims of discrimination and hate attacks." - "Gay Apartheid" in South Africa N/A (2003): "She also said that many bars ask blacks for their "membership cards." When they can't produce these non-existent ID's, they are denied entrance. "There is still a lot of racism against blacks from whites," she says. "Black and white gays live in two different worlds. It's almost as if there is gay apartheid." Even white gay and lesbian activists acknowledge the divide. Evert Knoesen of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Project concedes that integrating whites and blacks in the community "remains a big issue."" - Gay community still facing many challenges (2004, Alternate Link): "Gays are enjoying a new era of freedom in cities 10 years after the end of apartheid, but black and coloured homosexuals in townships and villages are still victims of discrimination and hate attacks..." - 'Gay hate' website sparks fury (2004, Alternate Link): "South Africa's oldest lesbian and gay service organisation, the Triangle Project, on Friday reacted with outrage at a website that called for the "reclaiming of Cape Town from the homosexual plague"..."

The highest court in South Africa has overturned apartheid-era laws criminalizing homosexuality (Oct. 1998). - Adult gay sex is not a crime, court rules (1997). - A short history of South African Pride (1997). - South African Court Grants Same Sex Spousal Rights (2002). - Court Hears Challenge To South Africa Gay Marriage Ban (2004). - South Africa Anti-Gay Adoption Law Unconstitutional (2002). - South African Gays Gain Adoption Rights (Alternate Link). - L'adoption permise pour les homosexuels en Afrique du Sud (2002, Translation). - South Africa: Apartheid Military Forced Gay Troops Into Sex-Change Operations (2000). - Gays tell of mutilation by South African Military (2010). - South Africa OKs gays in its military N/A (Related Information: The Effect of Sodomy Laws on Lifting the Ban of Homosexual Personnel: 3 Case Studies) - A Gay Woman's Experience During her Career in the Department of Defence: Fleet of Hope: A Social Science Commentary - Part 2. (2003).

Gay and Lesbian Youth Experiences of Homophobia in South African Secondary Education (2003). - South African LGBT youth (2005). - South Africa: LGBT issues (2005). - South African Gay and Lesbian Youth Coming Out to Their Families: Analysing Various Decision-Making Pathways and Outcomes (2005). - The use of defence mechanisms as precursors to coming out in post-apartheid South Africa: a gay and lesbian youth perspective (2008). - IsiNgqumo - Introducing a gay Black South African linguistic variety (2008).

South African gays take centre stage (1999): "Conservative Christians have threatened to disrupt the Miss Gay South Africa beauty pageant which is scheduled to take place on Saturday." - Gays Reap Rewards Slowly in Post-Apartheid South Africa. - Gays neglected in HIV/AIDS campaigns (2004, Alternate Link). - Engendering gay and lesbian rights: the equality cluase in the South African Constitution (2003, PDF Download). - Lesbians targets of rape war: Lesbians are being raped, assaulted and victimised "every day" in the townships, in an attempt to force a change in their sexual orientation. Since January this year, 33 black lesbians have come forward with their stories of rape, assault, sexual assault and verbal abuse to organisations fighting hate crimes in Johannesburg townships.

Behind closed Doors: Gay and Married (2001). -  School boys: the player queen. (2001, Links to 7 other stories at the end of story) - Moffies, Artists, and Queens: Race and the Production of South African Gay Male Drag (2002 Draft; 2004, Published: Abstract). - South African lesbians fear rise of crime against them (2004). - Le mal de vivre des lesbiennes noires (2003, Translation): Les homosexuelles noires habitant dans les townships subissent de graves traumatismes, liés aux agressions verbales et physiques dont elles sont victimes quotidiennement. C’est ce qui ressort d’une étude de deux chercheuses sud-africaines. La première du genre à donner la parole à cette communauté humiliée. - Rape New Weapon Against South African Lesbians (2004).

The Lesbian and Gay Equality project: Special features (2004): A Religious Opinion on Same Sex Marriage. - For Same-sex Marriage. - Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective Violence Against Women: "No woman can determine the direction of her own life without the ability to determine her sexuality. Sexuality is an integral, deeply ingrained part of every human being’s life and should not be subject to debate or coercion. Anyone who is truly committed to human rights must recognise that every woman has the right to determine her sexuality free of discrimination." - Unmasking our struggle: "When black lesbians and gay men turn to the lesbian and gay community, they are often met with racism from their white counterparts. They may be met with white lesbians and gay men who do not understand their cultural background, find them sexually "exotic", cannot be bothered to spell their names properly and have no understanding of how racism has affected their lives. In extreme cases, they are not made to feel welcome at cultural or political gatherings..."

Stop prison rape in South Africa (2007): Abstract: South Africa has some of the highest rates of rape in the world. Activists have drawn attention to the devastating effect this has on women and children. However, insufficient attention has been paid to rape - predominantly of men - in prisons. This article aims to educate gender activists about the phenomenon of prison rape in the context of South Africa. It hopes to make the case that prison rape reflects and reinforces rape culture in South Africa (and elsewhere). In so doing, it aims to galvanise action to prevent prison rape and all forms of rape. - Prisons slammed over male rapes (2004): "Prison psychological services director Dr Lorinda Bergh testified she found it startling that no policy had been developed to protect homo- and transsexual men in jail... She was testifying on claims by former inmate Louis Karp, who claims to have been raped and abused while awaiting trial for car theft in the Pretoria local prison in 2001 and 2002... Earlier on Tuesday, prison doctor Kobeli Khomari admitted that measures to deal with rape among inmates were inadequate, even though the phenomenon was "very common".Khomari also conceded that rape claims very rarely reached court and said rape victims were not referred for psychological help as a matter of course... She agreed with Barlow that "trauma upon trauma" was heaped on Karp, and that this was largely a result of a lack of understanding of male rape..." - Rape in Prison: An intervention by Rape Crisis at Pollsmoor Prison (2002).

Boy, 15, 'sold' for jail rape (2008). - South Africa: Rape Incidents At Correctional Disturbing, Says Commissioner (2008). - Sexual Violence Plagues South African Prisons (2009). - Jail rape: The sordid facts (2005). - Behind the bars of South African prisons: Gendered roles and vulnerability of male inmates to forced sex (2005, Alternate Link). - Inquiry documents ill-treatment of SA gays in prison (2004). - MPs Demand Action on Prison Rapes, 'Marriages' (2010): Shocked MPs have demanded a plan of action on prison rapes and "marriages" following a report from a civil society organisation that nothing had been done in recent years to address the sexual violation of inmates. Members of Parliament's correctional services committee were reacting to a report from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. The centre's Sasha Gear told them yesterday that it had been difficult to get the Department of Correctional Services to give the matter the attention it deserved.

Police-jail rapes of white SA men is a war crime pattern (2010): It’s a pattern: often white South African men are arrested on frivolous charges, dumped in holding cells with black criminals and raped – and then released without charges the next day… The writer of the following article, known only as Sybille*, says these race-targetted rapes are ‘war-crimes’ – ‘acts of aggression to humiliate and degrade members of the white conquered tribe’.. - Jail rape of white South African men a war crime (2010). - ‘Rape in jail’ ad too shocking for some (2010): The Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative has slammed an advertising campaign seeking to deter drunken-driving by warning male drivers they face the prospect of being raped in prison if arrested. - South African Lesbians Targeted for Rape and Violence (2011). - South African victory on lesbian rape (2011): Free Gender is a Black lesbian group from Khayelitsha in Cape Town.   The group organised a rally in protest against the lack of government and political  response to ” corrective rape”. - South Africans decry rapes of lesbians (2011): Rights activists are speaking out against rapes targeting lesbians in South Africa.

South African man charged with ‘correctional rape’ of lesbian (2010). - South Africa corrective rape (2009, Video). - Raped and killed for being a lesbian: South Africa ignores 'corrective' attacks (2009). - South Africa: 'Corrective Rape' Spreads To 'Fix' Lesbians (2009). - Lesbians subjected to "corrective rape" in South Africa  (2009): Lesbians living in South Africa are being subjected to "corrective rape" and severe violence by men trying to "cure" them of their sexual orientation, human rights groups have said.. - Female athletes often targets for rape (2010). - Tackling South Africa's rape epidemic (2009): The trial of three of the men accused of the rape and murder of one of South Africa's leading sportswomen, the openly gay football star Eudy Simelane, starts in South Africa on Wednesday. - Viols et meurtres de lesbiennes en Afrique du Sud : l’épidémie (2011, Translation). - Girl, 13, latest victim of ’corrective rape’ in South Africa (2011).

Perpetrators of corrective rape: Uncertainty and gender in the 21st century (2011): South Africa is “witnessing a backlash of crimes targeted specifically at lesbian women, who are perceived as representing a direct threat to a male dominated society” according to ActionAid, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) backed by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). The most notable of these crimes against lesbian women is corrective rape. Perpetrators of corrective rape desire to show lesbians “how to be real women.” They manifestly believe that forcing heterosexual intercourse onto lesbians will somehow reinstate a ‘traditional’ hetero-normative sexual identity in their victims. Using violence to attain their ‘goal’ indicates an attitude of hatred towards lesbian women. Unfortunately, support groups report that corrective rape is on the rise in South African townships...

Mieses A (2009). Gender Inequality and Corrective Rape of Women Who Have Sex With Women. GMHC Treatment Issues. PDF Download. African women face a new epidemic, one that threatens their lives and creates additional barriers to HIV prevention.  South African lesbians and other women who have sex with women (WSW) challenge dominant South African ideas about gender identity. Some WSW are sexually and brutally punished by local men for being gay and violating traditional gender presentation. This punishment is referred to as “corrective rape.” Reported incidents of corrective rape have been growing, and many unreported cases remain uncounted. South African officials rarely declare these crimes as hate crimes, despite the fact that the victims are targeted for being WSW. In July 2007, two women were found in a Johannesburg township after being gang-raped, tortured, tied with their underwear and shot execution-style in the head... - 'These Women, They Force Us to Rape Them': Rape as Narrative of Social Control in Post-Apartheid South Africa (2006). - « Corrective rape » or how to set lesbians straight (2010). - Hate crimes: The rise of ‘corrective’ rape in South Africa (2009).

Krause, Kristina (2006). Being a Lesbian in South Africa.  Word Download. “In a country numbered by violence against women, lesbians are a target not just because they’re women, but because they love women”, (Gail Smith of Women Behind the Mask, 2003). Black women are the most underprivileged group in South Africa and when the title of lesbian is added, their status drops even further. For outsiders, a black lesbian woman has become something deeply offensive. Her homosexuality all at once, puts her against South African culture, religion, blackness, womanhood and her family. However, according to South Africa’s constitution this should not be the case...

van Dyk, Delene (2011). “Lesbian Lives Unlimited”; The psycho-social-sexual experiences of lesbian women in Tshwana (Pretoria): A qualitative analysis. In: Saskia E. Wieringa (ed), Women-Loving-Women in Africa and Asia, pp. 428-463. Amsterdam: TRANS/SIGN Report of Research Findings. PDF Download.  This report illustrates that, to really understand the lives of lesbian women, you should change the way you look at them and throw your heteronormative stereotyped lenses away, with no limiting beliefs. Not two women in this study presented with the exact same life experiences (like women in general), although there might be areas that resemble each other. This report highlights the need to find out more about lesbian women’s lives, not only to understand their lives and experiences better, but because it gives a voice to a very marginalized group of women. It gives a voice to both the women who are comfortably out and proud and then to those that, due to unfortunate circumstances, cannot be out and be who they really are and love who they really want, too afraid of the consequences, the discrimination, and rejection.

Klein, Thamar (2009). Intersex and transgender activism in South Africa. Liminalis: Journal for sex/gender emancipation and resistance, 3. PDF Download. Download Page. South Africa has come a long way concerning the legal treatment of trans* (in medical literature often categorised as transgenderism, transsexuality, gender dysphoria, or gender identity disorder) and intersexuality (also known as hermaphroditism or disorder of sex development). LGBTTIQ-activists consider the country to be, from a legal point of view, among the most progressive worldwide... South Africa is despite its progressive laws far from being a ‘dreamland’ for trans* and intersexed people. Instead they still face a vast array of obstacles, phobias, discrimination, and hate crimes. However the constitution and the progressive laws provide a legal basis from which they can fight for their rights.

MSM left out of media, prevention programmes (2010): Men who have sex with men (MSM) do not make headlines in South African media and HIV experts have warned that a lack of accurate coverage prevents targeted HIV prevention and care for these men... "MSM doesn't mean that you're gay – it just [means] a man who sleeps with other men ... but as soon as you say that a man sleeps with another man, people think that's 'gay'," Radebe told IRIN/PlusNews. "We have to get away from boxing people and come to an understanding." Reinforcing stereotypes that all MSM are gay – or that they have the same HIV prevention needs as gay men – may alienate this vulnerable group, which does not usually self-identify as being gay. It may also deter them from accessing target HIV services for fear of being labelled “gay”, he added... But same-sex relationships remain difficult terrain for media in South Africa. One of the most popular television soap operas, Generations, recently broke new ground with a gay kiss – and lost a substantial number of viewers in the process, according to Melissa Meyer, a project coordinator with the HIV/AIDS and the Media Project at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand...

HIV Prevalence and Risk Practices Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Two South African Cities (2011): MSM aged 18 years or older were recruited using respondent-driven sampling. Participants completed a questionnaire and provided finger-prick blood specimens for anonymous HIV testing in a laboratory. From July to December 2008, 285 MSM were recruited in Johannesburg (n=204) and Durban (n=81). Participants had a median age of 22 years and were predominantly black Africans (88.3%). The HIV prevalence was 49.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 42.5%-56.5% in Johannesburg and 27.5% (95% CI 17.0%-38.1%) in Durban. HIV infection was associated with gay identification (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 8.4; 95% CI, 3.7-19). Factors in the previous year that were associated with HIV infection included receptive unprotected anal intercourse (aOR 4.3; 95% CI 2.4-7.6); sex with a person known to be HIV positive (aOR 2.3; 95% CI 1.1-4.9); and a sexually transmitted infection diagnosis (aOR 2.4; 95% CI 1.1-5.2)..,

HIV and Sexual Risk in African MSM in South African Township (Study From 2008 to 2012): South African men who have sex with men (MSM) are an understudied population in HIV/AIDS epidemiological and social science research... The aims of the proposed study are (1) to assess the prevalence of HIV among African MSM living in South African townships and identify which behavioral, psychosocial, and network characteristics distinguish infected MSM from non-infected MSM; (2) to identify the structural and psychosocial correlates of sexual risk behavior in these men, with a particular focus on the role of alcohol use; and (3) to describe the social organization of same-sex sexual practices of these men and identify structural and psychosocial factors that affect how these practices are experienced. To accomplish these aims, the proposed study combines HIV testing, a survey, and ethnography. - HIV prevention and men who have sex with men: A South African experience (2010).

Boyce P. et al (2011). An Exploratory Study of the Social Contexts, Practices and Risks of Men Who Sell Sex in Southern and Eastern Africa. PDF Download. This report presents research conducted on behalf of Oxfam GB with funding from UNDP - an exploratory study of the social contexts, practices and risks of men who sell sex in Southern and Eastern Africa. The research was undertaken by the African Sex Worker Alliance in collaboration with Dr. Paul Boyce (UNDP) and Dr. Gordon Isaacs (SWEAT) as principle investigators... Conclusion: The data presented in this report combine to build-up a complex and nuanced account of the lives and life-worlds of male sex workers in the Southern and Eastern Africa region. A strength of the methodology adopted in the study (both in the formative workshop and in the follow-up activities) was a focus on sex workers' narratives amidst the creation of discursive spaces wherein intimate and personal views of male sex work could be shared. This added analytical depth to explorations of social vulnerability, sexual subjectivity, 'belonging', risk and so forth. The research consciously countered approaches to the study of sex work that focus on the classification of 'types' of sex worker or sex work, or which focus on the categorization and quantification of sexual risk practices. Whilst such research can certainly engender useful information, we were also concerned that in terms of analysis of sexualities and sex work as lived day-to-day practices such studies typically offer only a partial or limited perspective. In basing our research and analysis within first-order accounts of sex workers' lives we have sought to ground the research with a strong, experiential epistemology, which is also personally and emotionally sensitive. Personal developmental milestones [family background], language, vernacular, cultural and tribal affiliations, including inner city and peri-urban influences - and migrant sex work populations -have created mini-sub-cultures that often contain specific mores, codes of behaviour, class divisions and gender rivalry . This anthropological diversity must be addressed -sensitive to the needs, aspirations and participation of all concerned. This in turn can offer important insights into sex workers life experiences in a manner that can offer new and significant pathways for addressing social vulnerability, rights, risks, HIV prevention and health.

Disclosure decisions of HIV positive men who have sex with men (MSM) in Cape Town, South Africa (PPT Presentation as PDF): Sixty eight of the 92 MSM living with HIV reported anal sex with more than onepartner who were unaware of their HIV positive status. Almost 60% of the respondents indicated that it was difficult for them to tell other people about their HIV positive status. MSM did report experiencing discrimination (64%) resulting from being HIV positive, including loss of housing or employment (45%). Of interest is that 11% of the MSM reported that they were currently married. Whilst 36 of the 92 MSM indicated that they had unprotected vaginal sex more than once in the previous 3 months with partners who were unaware of their HIV positive status.

Researching MSM in South Africa: Some Preliminary Notes from the Frontlines of a Hidden Epidemic (2009, PDF Download. Reference): In South Africa, almost all medical and civil society-based research on HIV and AIDS has been focused on heterosexual transmission (or on mother-to-child transmission) (Abdool Karim & Abdool Karim, 2005). The near-erasure of homosexuals from the HIV/AIDS epidemiological picture in South Africa could be attributed to political exclusion (Fourie, 2006). It may also be due to a historical reluctance by policymakers to address HIV/ AIDS in same-sex practicing populations because such an engagement would require engaging with sexual practices and identities that are already steeped in prejudice and pathologization (Johnson, 2007). We would argue that the prevailing culture of denial vis á vis homosexuality in the South African context is in and of itself a hostile response towards homosexuality, and is something which warrants analysis in terms which include South Africa in other continental cultures of denial around homosexuality. These cultures tend to categorize homosexuality as a Euro-American perversion that has contaminated African “tradition”; despite increasing evidence of the existence of homosexuality in pre-colonial Africa2. The assumption that homosexuality is a sign of European and Western decadence is underpinned by homogenising discourses that view “tradition” as static, unchanging and fixed. Central to this discourse is the common and totalising argument that homosexuality is “unAfrican” with the argument often focused on homosexuality’s absence in pre-colonial Africa (Antonio, 1997)...

Call for MSM to Be on Aids Agenda (2010): As World AIDS Day approaches, activists and service providers in the non-governmental health sector have warned government that it will never turn the tide of AIDS if high risk groups such as men who have sex with other men are not brought into focus in efforts to prevent HIV spreading further. An online survey conducted by the OUT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Inter-sex network in 2007 shows that 15 - 20% of men in South Africa, which translates to about 1.8 million men, have sex with other men. Non-governmental organizations and activists have cautioned that this is a high-risk group and its continued marginalization in national AIDS programmes poses a threat to making real progress in addressing AIDS. So far, programmes in South Africa, largely driven by the National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS, have been designed to respond to what has been described as a "general heterosexual epidemic". This is of concern to Dr Oscar Radebe, a medical officer with Health for Men, an NGO that offers health services to men...

Lane T, Raymond HF, Dladla S, Rasethe J, Struthers H, McFarland W, McIntyre J (2011). High HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men in Soweto, South Africa: results from the Soweto Men's Study. AIDS and Behavior, 15(3): 626-34. PDF Download. PubMed Abstract. The Soweto Men’s Study assessed HIV prevalence and associated risk factors among MSM in Soweto, South Africa. Using respondent driven sampling (RDS) recruitment methods, we recruited 378 MSM (including 15 seeds) over 30 weeks in 2008. All results were adjusted for RDS sampling design. Overall HIV prevalence was estimated at 13.2% (95% confidence interval 12.4–13.9%), with 33.9% among gay-identified men, 6.4% among bisexual-identified men, and 10.1% among straight-identified MSM... The results of the Soweto Men’s Study confirm that MSM are at high risk for HIV infection, with gay men at highest risk. HIV prevention and treatment for MSM are urgently needed..

Lane T, et al (2006). High-Risk Sex among Black MSM in Gauteng, South Africa. PDF Download. Despite high levels of HIV awareness, high-risk sexual behavior among the most sexually active suggest that Black South African MSM are highly vulnerable to HIV infection.  • A concentrated HIV epidemic among Black MSM may be linked to the generalized epidemic in South Africa through the
sexual behavior of men who have sex with both men and women. • Researchers, CBOs, and provincial and national departments of health can work together to address the HIV prevention needs of MSM.
• The feasibility of community-based strategies for HIV prevention should be systematically explored. This must include the development of specific strategies to encourage HIV prevention among bisexual and straight-identified men as well as among gay-identified men.  • The association of alcohol use and high-risk sexual behavior among Black South African MSM will be an important area of focus for HIV prevention efforts.  • Barriers to availability of and access to latex-compatible lubrication, particularly cost barriers, must be addressed.

Livingston L, et al. (2008). Prism Project: Needs Assessment Report: Resourced Gay Men in Tshwane aged 18-40, 2007/8. Pretoria: OUT Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) Well-Being. PDF Download. The NA was a first step in exploring determinants of casual sexual risk-taking among White resourced gay men in Tshwane. Three broad areas were explored, i.e. biographical data, views of health problems and solutions and lastly, sexual behaviour and the determinants thereof. It became clear that HIV and STIs are seen as serious health problems confronting gay men. Without a strong sense of community, they appear apathetic and disinterested in taking responsibility for their own sexual health and well-being. Casual sex seems to be occurring in a context where anal sex is a preference, where motivating and de-motivating factors are mediated by the type of venue, the time of day, the codes given and the substance used, where there is no regular testing and no one knows their recent status, where there is no condom use in steady relationships and inconsistent condom use in casual encounters, where there is no negotiated safety in steady relationships and casual encounters, and where monogamy is claimed but not carried out and secrecy surrounds the most recent casual encounter. It is clear that this situates these men as being at a high risk of contracting and transmitting an STI or HIV. An intervention is needed to deal with the developing problem.

Tucker, Andrew (2009). Framing exclusion in Cape Town's gay village: the discursive and material perpetration of inequitable queer subjects. Area, 41(2): 186-197. Abstract: Within and beyond geography, there has been a growing concern in understanding how and why exclusion can occur within ‘gay spaces’, with a specific focus on Western Europe and North America. Heidi Nast's (2002 Queer patriarchies, queer racisms, international Antipode 34 874–909) work on the ‘white queer patriarch’ has taken this work further by exploring the multiple, interrelated, historical and contemporary factors that can lead to exclusion and exploitation. Despite growing interest surrounding South Africa's new liberal queer agenda, issues of contemporary exclusion among queer groups as a direct result of race and racism have remained relatively unexplored. By incorporating elements of Nast's schema, this article will examine the power that exists in the creation and framing of essentialistic ‘white’ and ‘coloured’ queer male subjects in Cape Town's gay village. These subjects will be shown to simultaneously draw on historical inequalities while also re-imagining them in contemporary settings to re-inscribe perceptions of classed and gendered difference. The creation of such inequitable subjects helps us understand how exclusion can become real and normalised within a space such as Cape Town's gay village in a way that draws on a history of material inequalities and discursive perceptions of race.

Black like me? Gay hairstyling and the paradox of modernity in South Africa (2007 Dissertation): The starting point for this research project is hairstyling and "hair saloons". Hairstyles are an important marker of cultural identity and hair saloons frequently provide safe social spaces for gay men as well as a significant point of interaction with broader communities. Hair saloons are thus sites where same-sex identities can be developed and expressed as well as negotiated with the outside world. In the South African public imaginary, gay lifestyles are associated with "modernity", a term which has both negative and positive connotations. This is particularly apparent in the ambiguous response to hairstylists, as a source of what is both desirable and regrettable about "modernity". This research will explore the articulation between "modernity" and contemporary same-sex identities in South Africa. The nature of rural and urban, traditional and modern, will be explored through a network of stylists and their associates who live and work outside of the metropole, in the urban peripheries, small towns and rural areas of South Africa's Mpumalanga province.

Currier, Ashley McAllister (2007). The Visibility of Sexual Minority Movement Organizations in Namibia and South Africa. PhD Dissertation, Sociology, University of Pittsburgh. PDF Download. Download Page. Abstract: The South African state has responded favorably to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social movement organizations’ (SMOs) efforts to protect and extend sexual and gender minority rights, whereas Namibian state leaders have verbally attacked LGBT organizing and threatened to arrest sexual and gender minorities... I engaged in intensive, continuous ethnographic observation of four Namibian and South African LGBT social movement organizations for approximately 800 hours and analyzed my ethnographic fieldnotes. I also analyzed more than 2,100 newspaper articles and LGBT SMO documents and conducted 56 in-depth interviews with staff, members, and leaders of LGBT SMOs. In this dissertation, I explore the varied strategic dilemmas of visibility and invisibility that Namibian and South African LGBT SMOs faced...

The Lesbian and Gay Equality project: Special features (2003): Expressions of Johannesburg pride (Alternate Link): "One can almost write a report on Pride before it takes place. South African Gay and Lesbian Pride (formerly Lesbian and Gay Pride - a more inclusive and less marginalizing title) is now firmly following the model set by Prides worldwide... so what are they partying after, you may ask? It is a far cry from the foundation of the Pride phenomenon in South Africa, now in its 14th year. There was a time - and Yusoof Abdullah, co-organiser of the Pride event this year is keen to remind people of his connection to those initial Pride marches - when Pride meant something... Well there is a good reason why some political sentiments need to be injected back into the Pride event - our most public expression of pride in ourselves and our community. Just because it says so in the constitution doesn't mean that people don't discriminate against lesbian and gay people and that homophobia is not still rife in South Africa... Few lesbian or gay people in the world have not heard of Matthew Shepard; a victim of a violent and brutal homophobic attack that led to his death hanging from a fence in the USA. But we have our own Matthew Shepards - we are just less willing to learn their names and honour their suffering with action... I have been marching in Pride marches in UK and South Africa since 1985. I have never missed a year. I even helped to organise one in South Africa in 2001. My commitment to the need for Pride and its meaning is total - so why was this the first year of my adult life that I couldn't march? Am I getting old? And why should that be such a sin in the gay world? No, none of this, I just could not find anything there to be proud of.

'I've got two men and one woman': ancestors, sexuality and identity among same-sex identified women traditional healers in South Africa (2003):  This paper presents preliminary insights into the complex nature of the same-sex orientation of seven women who are sangomas (traditional healers) in Soweto. Data was derived from an ethnographic study, used as the appropriate methodology because of the veiled and secret nature of same-sexuality amongst traditional healers... the belief system of the sangomas provides a window into different categories of sexuality in an African framework through which the interaction and intersection of their personal same-sex desire, and that of their male ancestors, can be viewed. Sangomas construction of identity and desire shifted between that of personal agency and that of a dominant male ancestor. This required constant negotiation and encompassed elements of both the 'modern' and 'traditional'. In the case of these sangomas, same-sexuality the basis of marginality assumes a social status and becomes a source of power.

(Un)Imagined Bodies and Identities (2008): I come from South Africa, a country that suffers in its postcolonial phase, like all other African countries do, from the past and present afflictions of European colonization and American imperialism that has including a white minority regime until 1990. Like all imperialist and other formerly colonized countries, South Africa is also still embedded within European heteropatriarchal values and queerphobia. However, I did not expect to be one of the unimagined and unvoiced bodies and identities in Canada, a country globally recognized for its advanced human rights and protections that includes the legal recognition of a person’s multi-layered identities... I would also like to preface this paper with the argument that theorizing about the lack of queer content in the MA Documentary Media program is about more than a silence about queer sexuality. It is about a racialized heteronormativity as it is reproduced within Canadian academia and the larger Canadian mainstream society...

Cloete A, Rispel L, Reddy V, Metcalf C (2010). Constructs of identity and HIV risk behaviours among men who have sex with men (MSM) in two South African cities. PPT Presentaton at the
Third Annual International Colloquium "Gender, Sexuality, History and Culture in Africa", University of Lagos, Nigeria. PDF Download. Comclusion: MSM identities are not only widespread but also
diverse in South Africa. - Understanding the social context of risk for MSM is important when designing HIV prevention programmes and services, in order to meet the needs of individuals with diverse sexual behaviours in a non-discriminatory and nonjudgmental manner. - More in-depth ethnographic type of research is needed to understand risk taking behaviour of MSM.

Arnott J, Crago A-L (2009). Rights Not rescue: A Report on Female, Male, and Trans Sex Workers’ Human Rights in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa Sexual Health and Rights Project, Open Society Institute. PDF Download.

Sonnekus, Theo (2009). Invisible Queers: Investigating the 'other' Other in gay visual cultures. Master or Arts Dissertation, University of Pretoria. PDF Download. Download Page. The apparent ‘invisibility’, or lack of representation of black men in contemporary mainstream gay visual cultures is the primary critical issue that the study engages with. The study presupposes that the frequency with which white men appear in popular representations of ‘gayness’ prevails over that of black men. In order to substantiate this assumption, this study analyses selected issues of the South African queer men’s lifestyle magazine Gay Pages. Gay visual cultures appear to simultaneously conflate ‘whiteness’ and normative homosexuality, while marginalising black gay men by means of positioning ‘blackness’ and ‘gayness’ as irreconcilable identity constructs. Images of the gay male ‘community’ disseminated by queer and mainstream media constantly offer stereotypical, distorted and race-biased notions of gay men, which ingrain the exclusive cultural equation of white men and ideal homomasculinity. The disclosure of racist and selectively homophobic ideologies, which seem to inform gay visual representation, is therefore the chief concern of the dissertation...

Freeing South Africa: The "Modernization" of Male-Male Sexuality in Soweto (1998): Although engaged in another research project, in my free time with friends like Paul, I thus stumbled onto a series of questions that began to perplex me: Who was Linda? In the letter quoted above, I had unproblematically identified Linda as "gay." But in his context, was he? And if so, how did he come to see himself as so? And I quickly confronted questions of gender as well. Did Linda consider himself as male? And if so, had he always done so? As issues like these began to pose themselves, I soon realized that for black men in townships around Johannesburg, identifying as gay was both recent and tied up, in unexpectedly complex ways, with a much larger historical transformation: the end of apartheid and the creation of a modem nation; in a phrase, the "freeing" of South Africa... Certainly, in Soweto in the 1960s, hostels populated by rural men had become notorious sites for same-sex sexual relations. Township parents warned young sons not to go anywhere nearby, that they would be swept inside and smeared with Vaseline and raped (see also Mathabane 1986:68-74). To urbanraised skesanas like Linda, however, these stories apparently only aroused phantasy and desire. Linda described a "marriage ceremony" in which she took part in one of the hostels, as follows:...

Coetzee, Catherine Anne (2009). The development and evaluation of a programme to promote sensitive pscyhotherapeutic practice with gay men and lesbians. PhD Dissertation, Rhodes University. Abstract and Download Page. Clinical psychology’s relevance and future viability depend on its ability to render services that are relevant and sensitive to multicultural and minority issues. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are one such group that professional psychology – both in South Africa and abroad - has identified as having unique treatment needs for which psychologists require specialised knowledge and skills in order to render appropriate treatment. Competence to treat non-heterosexual patients has been framed in terms of a gay affirmative paradigm which has as its basic tenet the recognition that same-gender orientation is not pathological but rather a healthy alternative to heterosexuality. From this perspective being “gay friendly” or “gay accepting” is not enough. To implement a gay affirmative approach in practice, practitioners must have resolved their possible prejudice and heterosexist bias and have the requisite knowledge of concerns unique to lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals to be able to apply their skills in a culturally sensitive manner. Although more American post-graduate psychology programmes are addressing sexual diversity, their failure to produce psychologists who feel competent to treat lesbian/gay or bisexual individuals has highlighted the need to develop effective training strategies based on empirical nvestigation. The dearth of comparable data about local South African psychology training prompted this inquiry which had four broad aims namely, (i) to establish to what extent trainees’ prior training had equipped them with the knowledge, awareness, and skills to approach their work with non-heterosexual patients in a gay affirmative manner, and (ii) to implement and (iii) to evaluate to what extent a brief structured training programme is effective in engaging the trainees; in increasing knowledge, in raising awareness, and in changing specific attitudes and imparting specific skills required for treating lesbian and gay patients.; and (iv) what, if any, recommendations should be made for the future with respect to training of sychologists in this area?...

Uit in die kuberruim: enkele waardetoevoegings en uitdagings ten opsigte van Gay@Litnet binne Suid-Afrikaanse konteks (2006): This article investigates the nature, role and contribution of Gay@Litnet as an electronic alternative for the publication of gay literature in South Africa. Attention will be given to the manner in which Gay@Litnet acts as a public forum for nurturing gay identity within the current socio-political context of South Africa. A brief summary of the current socio-political situation of South African gays will be given in order to place the discussion into the necessary context. Secondly, an evaluative description of the dynamics of Gay@Litnet will be given, where after a few value-adding properties and challenges concerning Gay@Litnet will be discussed.

The Lesbian and Gay Equality project: Special features (2001-04): Charity begins at… uhm… - Meds, Drugs and HIV. - How Sexuality is used to disempower women. - Homophobia and the Rights of Lesbians and Gays. - Recognise Same Sex Marriages. - Queer State funeral in Sebokeng.

History: South Africa: Apartheid Military Forced Gay Troops Into Sex-Change Operations. - Gays tell of mutilation by apartheid army. - Men who suffer in silence:  South African law does not recognise the existence of male rape..." - A leading light of gay and AIDS activism in SA (1998). - The official treatment of white, South African, homosexual men and the consequent reaction of gay liberation from the 1960s to 2000. PhD Dissertation. University of Jahannesburg. Download Page.- 'I've Got Two Men and One Woman': Ancestors, Sexuality and Identity among Same-Sex
Identified Women Traditional Healers in South Africa (2003). - State of Emergency: An exploration of attitudes towards homosexuality in the SADF, 1969-1994. Master's Dissertation, History Department, Stellenbosch University. Abstract and Download Page.

Mbali, Mandisa (2005). The Treatment Action Campaign and the History of Rights-Based, Patient-Driven HIV/AIDS Activism in South Africa: Research Report No. 29. University of Kwazulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society. PDF Download. Download Page. In asserting these continuities, it is not this Report’s aim to underplay the discontinuities between anti-apartheid, gay rights activism in the 1980s and early 1990s and TAC’s militant AIDS activism in post-apartheid South Africa. Conservative gay AIDS activists affiliated to Gay Activists of South Africa (GASA) tried and failed to gain access to the apartheid government’s AIDS committees during the 1980s. In the early 1990s, anti-apartheid gay AIDS activists used transition-era negotiating spaces such as the National Aids Convention of South Africa (NACOSA) to further their aims. However, the post-apartheid era brought much greater scope for AIDS activism as it brought with it a free press and the Constitutional Court, which were used to maximum potential by TAC activists, especially in advocating HIV treatment access for all, as the second and third sections of this Report argue. In using these democratic institutions, TAC defended and extended ‘first generation’ political rights.

Reddy, Vasu (2005). Moffies, stabanis and lesbos: the political construction of queer identities in southern Africa. PHD Dissertation, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. PDF Download (Very large: 159 Megs). Download Page. This dissertation focuses on discursive constructions of sexuality (in particular homosexuality). This study is not a social history, nor does it explain and motivate the existence of homosexuality. Rather, the project explores the regulatory public discourses of homosexuality in Southern Africa in relation to historical events and archived texts. (Southern embraces primarily South Africa although one chapter foregrounds neighbouring African countries in the Southern region). Applying recent studies in queer theory to a number of events, issues and sources, I formulate a critical methodology that demonstrates the political construction of homosexuality. I argue that the emergence of political queer identity has its roots in the apartheid State, and show how these identities are politically grounded (and indeed) reinforced In the post-apartheid project. The study conceives homosexuality as a 'queer identity' that resists and subverts heteronormativity.

Rees, Jennifer (2010). Masculinity and sexuality in South African border war literature. Master's Dissertation, University of Stellenbosch. PDF Download. Download Page. This thesis explores masculinity and sexuality, hegemonic and “deviant” in the nation state of the old apartheid South Africa, by addressing aspects of fatherhood, boyhood and motherhood in white, predominantly Afrikaans family narratives... I explore what happens when this white-centred patriarchal hegemony is broken down, threatened or resisted when “deviance” in the form of homosexuality occurs. A second focus of this thesis is that of “deviance” in the army. I analyse “deviance” in three novels, moffie (2006) by André Carl van der Merwe, The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs (1991) by Damon Galgut and Kings of the Water (2009) by Mark Behr. These novels foreground “deviance” and I make use of them in exploring the punishment, or “consequences” of being homosexual or “deviant” in the highly masculine environs of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) army.

van Zyl M, et al. (1999). Human rights abuses of gays and lesbians in the South African Defence Force by health workers during the apartheid era. Cape Town, Sotuh Africa: Simply Said and Done
on behalf of Gay and Lesbian Archives, Health and Human Rights Project, Medical Research Council, and the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality. PDF Download. - Gays tell of mutilation by apartheid army (2000).

Forman, Ross G (2002). Randy on the Rand: Portuguese African Labor and the Discourse on "Unnatural Vice" in the Transvaal in the Early Twentieth Century. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 11(4): 570-609. PDF Download. Reference. Because the economic center of South Africa had shifted from the Cape Province to the Transvaal as a result of the development of the mines, the country was heavily indebted to these workers from Mozambique, who in 1907 comprised about 70 percent of the labor force officially hired by the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA)and numbered more than seventy thousand... Their inquiry was prompted by and followed on the heels of an explosive 1906 investigation of "immorality" among the indentured Chinese laborers brought to the Transvaal after the conclusion of the Anglo- Boer War, for the earlier investigators had heard repeated testimony that the "Mozambique Natives" could teach the Chinese inore vice than the Chinese could teach them... For instance, although a number of "boys" - interviewed were named by other witnesses as being party to mine marriages, nearly all claimed linowledge of the practice but categorically denied their ou7n involvement in it...

Troubling Gender: Homosexuality in an African Society: "The aim of our study is to analyse the interrelationship between the stereotypes and my myths surrounding same-sex relationships/sexuality, sexual ransgression and gender-based violence.We will document the findings and place them in the context of the existing, but marginal research. What kind of myths and stereotypes are prevalent around homosexuality in African societies and especially in South Africa? Are there any intersections between these myths and gender-based violence and/or violence against lesbians – and if so,what are these myths? To understand these myths we will documen the history of same-sex relationships in differen African societies..." (Paper presented at the Sex & Secrecy Conference 2003, the 4th Conference of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality,Culture and Society (IASSCS) by Wendy Isaack and Henriette Gunkel: PDF Download).

Ratele, Kopano (2006). Ruling masculinity and sexuality. Feminist Africa, 6: 48-64. PDF Download. Full Text. Download Page. In a recent study on masculinity focusing on boys from several high schools around the Western Cape, similar thinking was evident. Firstly, in response to the question “What is a man?”, some of the boys answered that a man is “always considered … the head of the household while women are subordinate to men. Therefore a woman is not allowed to [be equal to] her husband when it comes to household decision-making.” In regard to the question of sexuality, a boy said “the problem with abstinence is that you might go crazy, if you are a man” (Ratele et al, in press). From discussion on gay and lesbian identities in that study, it was also clear that “a real man” does not behave in ways that are “unmanly” and does not have sex with another man. As a boy in one group said, “like some gays you can’t even tell that they’re gay ... among themselves they don’t parade around with it. I don’t mind if they’re like that, but I mean if they walk around going like ‘hello doll’ and that little kiss thingy…” [he doesn’t need to finish his idea]. Another boy at a different school, in reference to men looking after children, said “when you look after a child, you also have to put on an apron which makes you look like a moffie”[4] (Ratele et al, in press).

Theuninck AC (2000). The Traumatic Impact of Minority Stressors on Males Self-Identified as Homosexual or Bisexual. Master's Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Full Text & Summary N/A. (Archive Link) - Highlights: "In the present S.A.community sample of gay/bisexual men, 16.5% have made suicide attempts because of their sexuality... Of the South African gay/bi adolescents, 38.7% have attempted to commit suicide because of their sexuality." "The sample consists of 329 males from across South Africa... The majority of the sample were from 15 to 34 years of age (87.5%)... The majority were white (73.8%), with 16.7% being black and the rest (9.5%) either Indian, Coloured, or unspecified."  "When considering the influence of stressors and trauma on suicidal tendencies in gay/bi men, it was found that internalised homonegativity had the strongest influence. This is perhaps not surprising since loathing oneself because of one's sexuality, and seeing that sexuality as perverse, would be expected to be closely related to a severe self-hate that could lead to suicide. Having witnessed people being victimised for being gay was the next strongest factor related to suicidal tendencies. Witnessing others being harassed or bashed for being gay, places the gay/bi person in a catch 22 position..."

Wells H, Polders l (2004). Levels of Empowerment among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender [LGBT] People in Gauteng, South Africa. Research initiative of the Joint Working Group conducted by OUT LGBT Well-being in collaboration with the UNISA Centre for Applied Psychology. PDF Download. PDF Download. "Suicide attempts: 17% of the sample (n=347) had made a past suicide attempt or attempts. Of those who had attempted suicide 24% had made multiple attempts. The youngest age at which suicide was attempted was 13 years. No significant differences were found between age groups for attempted suicide. Suicide attempts showed similar rates for men and women. Interestingly, although black individuals reported the highest frequency of “always” or “often” thinking about suicide, white respondents had a higher rate ofattempts (22%) than black (16%) or Indian (12%) respondents."

Can we Talk about Suicide in Africa? (2011): This morning, while reading an article from Behind the Mask about the suicide of a young South African LGBTI activist, Sabelo Zondo, I wondered how many lost lives were due to suicide in the queer communities in Africa. The practice of autopsies after a sudden death is not a systematic medical practice in Africa, except for some legal reasons. People do take their own life and we need to talk about depression and suicide in the society in general and in the LGBTQI communities in particular. In addition to dealing with the stressful transition from childhood to adulthood, LGBTQI youth face many other challenges in Africa. Among other issues, the lack of supportive, positive social structures that allow different gender expression contribute to make LGBTQI youth very vulnerable to depression and suicide attempts. But it does not have to be this way. Can we start by talking about suicide. We should not be ashamed to admit that we are going through depression. We should train and enable queer youth to assist their peers who are dealing with traumatic experiences...

Belkin A, Canaday M (2010). Assessing the integration of gays and lesbians: Into the South African National Defence Force. Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies, 38(2): 1-21. PDF Download. The evidence suggests that the integration of gay and lesbian personnel has not had a negative impact on recruitment and retention, morale, unit cohesion or operational effectiveness in the SANDF.

Achmat, Zackie (2010). LGBTI Freedom and Equality in Africa: a Different South African Perspective. Newsletter: International AIDS Society (PDF, Must Scroll). In theory, we are equal as gay men. We can have sex without any fear of prosecution. The constitution and a myriad of laws guarantee us equal access to social services, employment benefits, fostering, adoption, marriage, divorce and inheritance. We can also serve in the South African National Defence Force and enjoy gay culture and freedom of expression. However, that young, Black gay man’s only rights include sex with a partner of his choice and to openly associate with LGBTI people. These rights are vital, but real equality is a chimera. Equality, privacy and freedom are privileges enjoyed by middle- and upper-class people, including gay men of all races. LGBTI people both consciously and unconsciously lay claim to their rights as human beings and they locate these rights as global citizens. These rights to freedom and equality correctly inspire and activate people everywhere. However, the uncritical adoption of the American, Australian and European rights–based strategies focused on the lobbying of parliaments, litigation and visibility through the media has led to an impasse. A rightsbased movement that looks only to parliaments and the courts must fail, since they are largely captured by corporations and the urban, middle- and upper-class elites...

Kraak, Gerald  (2002). Homosexuality and the South African left: the amibiguities of exile. On The Subject of Sex & The Body Seminar Series (in collaboration with the Graduate School for the Humanities and the School of Arts). Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), The University of Witwatersrand. PDF Download. Download Page. This article is a contribution to a slim, but emerging body of work in gay South African historiography – the hidden, largely unacknowledged role played by gay menand lesbians in opposition politics and in the anti-apartheid and liberation movements..

Muholi, Zanele  (2009). Mapping Our Histories: A Visual History of Black Lesbians in Post-Apartheid South Africa.  PDF Download. Other Writings. Home Page.

Stobie C (2009). Postcolonial Pomosexuality: Queer/ Alternative Fiction after "Disgrace". Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, 21(1/2). Full Text. The development of South African queer/alternative writing is illustrated by the shift from William Plomer's oblique re-working of homosexual desire into cross-racial erotics in Turbott Wolfe (1925), through occasional explorations of homosexuality under high apartheid by authors such as Stephen Gray (1988)--although such texts were vulnerable to banning by the censors to increasingly explicit material towards the end of the century, by such authors as Damon Galgut (1995), Ashraf Jamal (1996) and Tatamkhulu Afrika (1996). In addition to authors who are personally invested in queer issues, Nobel laureates Nadine Gordimer and J M Coetzee refer to these issues in works from their later periods such as Gordimer's The House Gun (1998) and Coetzee's Disgrace (1999). In view of the apartheid-era legislation declaring homosexuality illegal it is understandable that after the shift to democracy and the passing of legal safeguards for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people a number of authors have explored the painful self-acceptance of gay identities--mainly also white and male--during apartheid. This exploration forms part of the retrospective cartography of the previously occluded queer nation. An interesting turn in the post-apartheid era is the handling of the trope of bisexuality, which opens up a potentially useful domain for considering sexuality and national identifications beyond the constraints of binary models (see Stobie 2007). Since the publication of Disgrace a significant development in queer writing has been the shift to representing a more varied spectrum of sexuality--not necessarily viewed as a prime marker of identity; more awareness of gender issues; a consciousness of postcolonialism; and an exciting experimentation with form in the fictional narration which also visualises a future that can countenance new forms of gender performance and sexuality. This collective shift, more evident in the writing of women authors focusing on queer/ alternative themes, might be called postcolonial pomosexuality. The term "pomosexuality" refers to expressions of queer beyond separatist or essentialist notions of sexual orientation (Queen and Schimel 1997), and my addition of the adjective "postcolonial" sites this intimate domain within wider political power structures.

Mark Gevisser: In his new essay in the latest edition of Granta, Mark looks back at the lives of two older men from Soweto, and how they negotiated the double-jeopardy of being black and being gay in apartheid South Africa, from the perspective of his own same-sex marriage in February 2009. Extract. See: Recent Writings. - Gevisser, Mark (2000). Mandela's stepchildren: homosexual identity in post-apartheid South Africa. In: Different Rainbows: Same-Sex Sexualities and Popular Movements in the Third World - 2000 - edited by Peter Drucker.

Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology: Index Page: South Africa: - Homoerotic, Homosexual, and Ambisexual Behaviors. - Gender Conflicted Persons. - HIV/AIDS.

International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: South Africa. See: Homoerotic, Homosexual, and Bisexual Behaviors & Gender Diversity and Transgender Issues.

Simon and I: A film by Beverley Palesa Ditsie and Nicky Newman. A challenging, provocative, and unconventional film about life in Southern Africa in the presenceof HIV/AIDS. - Simon and I: Simon and I recounts the lives of two giants in the South African gay and lesbian liberation movement, Simon Nkoli and the film maker herself, Bev Ditsie. The story is narrated by Bev, both as a personal statement and a political history. Through good times and bad, their relationship is viewed against a backdrop of intense political activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Their converging and diverging lives, culminating in Simon s death, are revealed in this heartfelt testament using a mixed format of interviews and archive footage.

Resources: - GALA: Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action: GALA was established under the name The Gay and Lesbian Archives in 1997. - Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (To 2009). (Old Site, to 2007) (Archive Link). GALA 2003 Report:  Established in 1997, GALA is an independent project of the South African History Archives Trust (SAHA) which forms part of the Historical Papers collection based at the William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. For SAHA this was a valuable extension of its existing collections that echoed SAHA’s historic commitment to documenting human rights struggles in South Africa. GALA represents a unique resource of material relating to lesbian and gay experience in Southern Africa. It is appropriate that the only lesbian and gay archive on the continent should be located in South Africa, considering that this is the first country in the world to enshrine equality on the basis of sexual orientation in its constitution. In the light of the constitution making process and the ensuing legal reforms, South Africa has become a focus for international and local research attention.. - Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA): Strategic plan 2007-2011.

The Durban Lesbian & Gay Community & Health Centre. - GMax: gay and lesbian South Africa. - Gay South Africa. - The South African Gay Information Guide. - South African Lesbian and Gay Equality Project. - Grey Gay Guide. - Feminist Internet Resource Guide: Africa (To 2006). - Gay South Africa Lifestyle. - Gender DynamiX: African based organisation for the transgender community. The aim is to create awareness and visualize transgenderism. - Lesbians in South Africa: A forum for South Africa's Lesbian community (To 2006): - Jewish OutLook: the new South African Jewish Organisation catering for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered and Intersex Community. - Cape Town GLBT Links. - Exit online - stories from South Africa's LGBT newspaper. - South Africa Gay & Lesbian Issues News: Service for global professionals. Constantly updated news and information about South Africa..

Joburg Pride. - Cape Town Pride. - Videos, Gay Pride: Cape Town Pride Parade, 2011. - Cape Town Pride Parade After Party at Cape Town Stadium, 2011. - Cape Town Gay Pride 2010 - Bronx Boyz. - South Africa Gay Pride at Zoo Lake, 2009. - Gay Pride in Cape Town, 2008. - Cape Town Pride GoPink, 2008. - Homophobic Harassment During Gay Pride, 2009.

MSMGF News Articles & Documents Resources. By Region & Country:  - Sub-Saharan Africa: - South Africa. Zimbabwe.

Behind the Mask - A Web Site on Gay and Lesbian Affairs in Africa. - Africa by Country: South Africa Information News. - African Veil: Countries Covered: South Africa. - Queer afrol. - Afrol News; Gay/Lesbian Archives. - theGully.com news & Articles: Africa. - Mamba Online: Gay South Africa Lifestyle, News, Dating. - Human Rights Watch: Use Search Function. - Amnesty International: Use Search Function. - Pink News: Europe's Largest Gay News Service: Africa. - AsylumLaw.Org: Sexual Minorities & HIV Status: Documents / Reports / Website Links / Organizations. South Africa Individual Documents since 1999. - Links to News Sources for GLBT World.

Global Gayz: Africa: South Africa News Report 2000 to Present. - ILGA: Africa: South Africa. - LGBT rights in South Africa. - QRD. - Gayscape.

Arts & Culture Index: Africa N/A. (Archive Link, to 2003). - Botha MP (2003). Homosexuality and South African cinema. Kinema, 19, Spring 2003:39-64. Full Text.

Passion and pride at the gay film festival (2010). - Out in Africa, 2010. - Out in Africa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Johannesburg (2011). April 2011 Out in Africa Film Fest (2011). - Out In Africa: South African Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. - SA Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (2008, Must Scroll): The Out In Africa SA Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (OIA) celebrated its 15th birthday this spring with over 100 screenings held at Nu Metro in Johannesburg and Cape Town, for 11 days in each city. - South Africa: Out in Africa: Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (2007). - Homosexuality and South African Cinema (Bibliography to 1991). - The Power of Culture Special: Cinema in Africa - South African Queer Cinema Exposes Double Standards: Ten years after the first democratic elections, black South African queer film has come out of the closet. - Queer cinema as a fifth cinema in South Africa and Australia (2005): In South Africa, the first major Queer film festival, The Out In Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1994, was instrumental in developing and maintaining a post-Apartheid Queer public sphere which fostered further legal change. Given the significant histories of activism through Queer Cinematic Cultures in both Australia and South Africa, I propose in this thesis the existence of a new genus of cinema, which I term Fifth Cinema. Fifth Cinema includes Feminist Cinema, Queer Cinema and Immigrant/Multicultural Cinema and deals with the oppressions which cultures engage with within their own cultural boundaries. It can be informed by First Cinema (classical, Hollywood), Second Cinema (Art House or dual national cinemas), Third and Fourth Cinema (cinemas dealing with the decolonisation of Third World and Fourth World people), but it develops its unique characteristics by countering internal cultural colonisation. Fifth Cinema functions as a heterognosis, where multi-dimensional representations around sexuality, race and gender are used to assist in broader cultural liberation.

Branton, Heather (2002). Feminist Visions: Lesbian and Gay in Southern Africa: Activists, Lovers. and Healers. Feminist Collections, 24(1): 6-9. PDF Download. Download Page. Films Reviewed: Forbidden Fruit. Tina Mchida in Zimbabwe (Rainmakers, Series 2). Everything Must Com to Light.

Review (2010): Reading Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases (Book) and Difficult Love (Film). Zanele Muholi is very clear about the objectives of her work as a black lesbian South African visual activist. In the introduction to her 2010 book, Faces and Phases, she states: In the face of all the challenges our community encounters daily, I embarked on a journey of visual activism to ensure that there is black queer visibility. It is important to mark, map and preserve our mo(ve)ments through visual histories for reference and posterity so that future generations will note that we were here" (2010: 6). - Difficult Love wins an award at Bilbao (2011). - World renowned lesbian photographer and visual activist Zanele Muholi has once again been recognised for her work as her award winning film Difficult Love is being screened in local and international film festivals.The film was commissioned by the SABC and is co-directed by Peter Goldsmid and Zanele Muholi.

Books: - Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa - 1995 - edited by Mark Gevisser, Edwin Cameron (Google Books) (Review). - Different Rainbows: Same-Sex Sexualities and Popular Movements in the Third World - 2000 - edited by Peter Drucker (Review by Gary Kinsmans: "Third World 'Queer' Liberation "A revolution within the revolution." Contains: "Mandela's stepchildren: homosexual identity in post-apartheid South Africa" (P. 111-36, Alternate Link for Review) "Mark Gevisser, co-editor of the South African anthology Defiant desire (1994), discusses the development of homosexual identity in post-apartheid South Africa." Plus: "Awakenings: dreams and delusions of an incipient lesbian and gay movement in Kenya" (P. 179-92) "John Mburu writes from the embattled movements in southern Africa, where a spate of dictatorial presidents have made anti-homosexual pronouncements and embarked on campaigns of anti-gay and lesbian harassment. Mburu specifically deals with the movement in Kenya." - Moffies: gay life in Southern Africa - 2000 - by Bart Luirink (Review) (Abstract) (Amazon). - Sex and politics in South Africa - 2005 - by Neville Wallace Hoad, Karen Martin, Graeme Reid (Abstract & Author Information) (Google Books). - Queer visibilities: space, identity and interaction in Cape Town - 2009 - by Andrew Tucker (Google Books) (Review & Author Interview).

Books: - Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Among Lesbians and Gay Men (Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues, Volume 3) - 1997 - edited by Beverly Greene (Abstract). Contains: "From Apartheid to Mandela's Constitution" by Cheryl Potgieter. - The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality in Black Communities - 2001 - by Delroy Constantine-Simms (Excerpt) (Interview with author) (Review: Black Gay / Gay Black) (We are soliciting essays on Black homosexuality for the "The Greatest Taboo: Volume 2) Contains: "Institutionalizing Sexuality: Theorizing Queer in Post-Apartheid South Africa" by Vasu Reddy. - The Invisible Ghetto: Lesbian & Gay Writing from South Africa - 1995 - edited by Matthew Krouse. - Gayle: The Language of Kinks and Queens, A History and Dictionary of Gay Language in South Africa - 2005 - by Ken Cage. - Hungochani: the history of a dissident sexuality in southern Africa - 2004 - by Marc Epprecht (Google Books) (Review) (Review) (Related Article: homosexuality taboo in africa. - The Cultural Politics of Female Sexuality in South Africa - 2010 - by Henriette Gunkel (Contents & Introduction) (New NAI Book on Homophobia in Africa). - Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My life as a Lesbian Sangoma - 2009 - by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde (Review)  (Blessing ceremony for book launch) (Video: Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde prays/performs at the launch).

From Social Silence to Social Science: Same-sex sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa - 2009 - edited by Vasu Reddy, Theo Sandfort & Laetitia Rispel (Amazon) (Review) (Podcast Package: Same-sex sexuality, HIV & AIDS and Gender in South Africa) (Free Download. Download Page). Contents: Foreword. - Introduction. - - Theory, methodology, context: 1 Researching same-sex sexuality and HIV.  2 Sexuality research in South Africa: The policy context.  3 Same-sex sexuality and health: Current psychosocial scientific research in South Africa.  4 Homosexual and bisexual labels: The need for clear conceptualisations, operationalisations and appropriate methodological designs.  5 Gender, same-sex sexuality and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Practical research challenges and solutions.  6 From social silence to social science: HIV research among township MSM in South Africa. -- History, memory, archive:  7 Gay AIDS activism in South Africa prior to 1994.  8 Sexing women: Young black lesbian women’s reflections on sex and responses to safe(r) sex in Johannesburg.  9 Creating memory: Documenting and disseminating life stories of LGBTI people living with HIV
Ruth Morgan, Busi Kheswa, John Meletse.  10. Perspectives from sub-Saharan and southern Africa 10 What we know about same-sex practicing people and HIV in Africa.  11 Same-sex sexuality and HIV/AIDS: A perspective from Malawi.  12 A bird’s eye view of HIV and gay and lesbian issues in Zimbabwe. 13 Epidemiological disjunctures: A review of same-sex sexuality and HIV research in sub-Saharan Africa. -- Needs, programming, policy and direction for future research:  14 Mobilising gay and lesbian organisations to respond to the political challenges of the South African HIV epidemic.  15 Are South African HIV policies and programmes meeting the needs of samesex practising individuals?  16 Lessons learned from current South African HIV/AIDS research among lesbian/gay/bisexual populations.  17 Observations on HIV and AIDS in Cape Town’s LGBT population.  18 Some personal and political perspectives on HIV/AIDS in Ethekwini.  19 Health for all? Women who have sex with women (WSW) health needs and issues. -- Conclusions:  20 Taking research-based prevention forward.

The Prize and the Price: Shaping sexualities in South Africa (Free Download) - 2009 - edited by Melissa Steyn, Mikki van Zyl (Amazon). - Some Sections with Homosexuality Related Issues: Foreword. - 1. The Prize And The Price. - 5. Renegotiating masculinity in the Lowveld: narratives of male-male sex in compounds, prisons and at home. - 7. Are blind people better lovers? - 8. Sexuality in later life. - 13. Heterosex among young South Africans: Research reflections. - 17. Queer marriage: Sexualising citizenship and the development of freedoms in South Africa. - 18. Beyond the Constitution: from sexual rights to belonging. - Conclusion: Shaping sexualities.  See also the Index.

The country we want to live in Hate crimes and homophobia in the lives of black lesbian South Africans (Free Download) - 2010 - by Nonhlanhla Mkhize, Jane Bennett, Vasu Reddy, Relebohile Moletsane (Full Text) (HSRC Seminar: The Country We Want to Live In - Hate Crimes and Homophobia in the Lives of Black Lesbian South Africans). Contents: Foreword. - Preface. - - Part I: Context and History:  Context and socio-political background. - Language and vocabulary. - The delimitations of this report. - -  Part II: Perspective and Profile: Roundtable Seminar on Gender-Based Violence, Black Lesbians, Hate Speech and Homophobia. - - Part III: Current and Future Prospects: Legally-focused campaigning. - Conclusions and Recommendations: a way forward?

LESOTHO  - Lesotho reviewed by the UPR: refusal to decriminalise homosexuality (2010). - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Lesotho face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Male same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Lesotho, but female same-sex sexual activity is legal.

LGBTI Sopport Group Registered (2010): In what has been described by activists as a significant milestone for the Lesotho Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, transgender and Inter-gender (LGBTI) communities, November 2010 saw the registration of MATRIX support group as a Non-Profit Organisation by the Lesotho Law Office. - ‘Implications of the many facets towards the LGBTI community in Lesotho’ by Motebo Ntabe. Independent (but will be there on behalf of Matrix support Group as well) (2010): Because of all these, all the services are geared towards heterosexuality hence the books, clinics and every other thing deal only with heterosexuality. The health care does not cater for MSM/ WSW population. Because these people are forced to hide, it is rather difficult if not impossible to deal with people who are unknown hence they remain vulnerable to a number of health risks. However, the reality of the HIV pandemic has prompted the National Aids Commission to call upon other stakeholders to engage with MSM and WSW population decisively. Our legal system barely addresses MSM/ WSW activity and when it does it only criminalises MSM activity. What pertains from all these are a string of grave human rights violations. It is in the face of these that the Matrix Support Group was formed. This is the only LGBTI support group in the country. Conclusion. The situation is not hazardous in Lesotho but a lot of improvement is certainly needed.

MATRIX Support Group: An association for LGBTI community in Lesotho: Mission: The mission of the association is to help build a society in Lesotho that is free from stigma, abuse, discrimination and oppression against LBGTI. To create a strong and proud LGBTI community whereby Gay and Lesbian community can be FREE to express their IDENTITY and to love each other in the relationship of their own choosing... Matrix Support Group is about to kick start a study survey in Lesotho which will be carried out mostly my the LGBTI community in Lesotho. The study is going to be by means of questionnaires . The results of this study will further be used in advocacy for the LGBTI Lesotho... It is not only homophobia that we are faced with in Lesotho. There is also a very strong but hidden transphobia that exists from the gays and lesbians. To challenge this we need to provide adequate information to the different sexual orientation groups...In families - In most cases we are confronted with homophobia in families whereby the so called STRAIGHT  MEMBERS reduce their Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered and Intersex  members to nothing but sexual perverts, sexually ill, sexually immoral, sexually confused, sexually cursed/or demonised... In churches - Lesotho has been seen as the Christian Country Yet in churches a great number of the LGBTI community experience homophobia at its best. In most churches this issue is not talked about except when it is to bash, crash and break the LGBTI community. If or when an LGBTI member is won by a ‘straight and holy’ believer  into church ... It is often to impose change from homosexual to heterosexual...

MATRIX Support Group (2010): Nothing About Us Without Us: Community-led HIV research for men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW) in Lesotho. Conference Poster.

Homosexuals: a matter or morality that legality (2010). - Gay Priest Says Homophobia Kept Him From AIDS Mission Relief Group Says Concern Was About Africans' Feelings (2011): Roman Catholic priest Father Fred Daley, 59, was scheduled to be on an AIDS mission to Africa last Sunday.  He had undergone months of training and was preparing to spend more than a year in Lesotho, where one-third of the population suffers from AIDS. "The airline tickets had been sent," Father Daley tells ABC News.  "There was no condition to that." But it turns out there was a condition, and now Daley won't be going anywhere. On July 18, Daley was suddenly withdrawn from his mission to Lesotho, Africa by its organizers, Catholic Relief Services (CRS).  He says the reason is homophobia, because he is gay."This whole situation is surrounding homophobia," Daley told ABC News...

Human Rights Violations in Lesotho (2010): Sexual orientation and gender identity are neither protected nor overtly criminalised in Lesotho’s Constitution. Sodomy laws are in place that could be used to prosecute homosexual behaviour but reported sodomy offences are due to rape between men. Though there are no specific protections for sexual orientation or gender identity, there are general clauses talking to freedom from discrimination of any sort and the overall rights of equal treatment, fairness before the law and respect. These clauses could be gateways into explicit freedoms and protections for the LGBTI community in Lesotho. - Lesotho: Clash over gays (2010): Delegates attending the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN) annual general conference last Friday clashed over the association’s decision to help an organisation advocating for the rights of homosexuals. Matters came to a head after the annual report which was tabled before the delegates revealed that the council had given technical assistance to Matrix Support Group, an organisation for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersexual people.

Rain on Tin (2010): Hi folks! Today I am in Maseru for a GAD meeting... We are focused on raising issues about gender discrimination in Lesotho. Domestic violence (or as it is more progressively known, intimate partner violence)is rampant in this country. It is considered normal for men to beat their wives, girlfriends, etc. We want to change that! Also we want to bring awareness to issues of homosexuality as well. Many of you may know that public displays of homosexuality are considered criminal acts in various countries in Afria. While that is not the case in Lesotho homosexuality is not discussed or looked upon favorably. We want to change that too!

‘African Homosexuality’ Imagined: Doing Sexuality in Contested Spaces: During her time in the northern region of Mozambique, one Danish anthropologist observed that unlike her own experiences learning about women’s sexuality in a European, Christian context, sexualities were openly discussed and expressed in Mozambique society. A woman’s sexuality was something of her own, part of her personality and identity as a woman, not defined in relation to, or ‘opened up’ by men. Although these women were bound by the heterosexual norms and cultural expectations of having a husband and children and playing the roles of wife and mother, she discovered that there was a space for women to have same-sex relationships where the lines between friendship and lover were blurred... The women in northern Mozambique and Lesotho are examples of same-sex relationships and sexualities located outside of the “heterosexual norms in Africa.” These relationships were socially and culturally accepted in Mozambique, and were celebrated by women and their husbands in the Lesotho context, maybe because they existed alongside women’s heterosexual relationships and were not disruptive to the gender power system. However, we must hesitate to label these relationships as homosexual relationships, especially in the Lesotho context where the women themselves did not identify themselves as lesbians or homosexual because “homosexuality is not a conceptual category everywhere… and the kinds of sexual acts it is thought possible to perform, and the social identities that come to be attached to those who perform them, vary from one society to another”...

Lesoto: HIV Prevention Response and Modes of Transmission Analysis (2009): The importance of male-male transmission within Lesotho’s epidemic has not been systematically researched, and incidence modelling results are based on assumptions and regional default values...

Sodomy spreading Aids in prison (2005): At least one prisoner dies weekly and 52 die yearly due to HIV/Aids related diseases at Lesotho's largest prison, the Maseru divisional commander of correctional services said on Monday. Matete Mahao disclosed that the main contributing factor to the deaths and the spread of HIV/Aids at the Maseru Central Prison was sodomy, which, he said, was not a new phenomenon in Lesotho's male prisons. - Male-Male Sexuality in Lesotho: Two Conversations (2002). - "Mummies and babies" and friends and lovers in Lesotho (1985).

Resources: - Behind the Mask - A Web Site on Gay and Lesbian Affairs in Africa. - Africa by Country:  Lesotho. Lesotho Archive.  - African Veil: Countries Covered: Lesotho. - Queer afrol. - Afrol News; Gay/Lesbian Archives. - theGully.com news & Articles: Africa. 

Global Gayz: Africa: Lesotho News Reports From 2009 to the Present. - ILGA: Africa: Lesotho. - LGBT rights in Lesotho. - Sodomy Laws. - Human Rights Watch: Use Search Function. - Amnesty International: Use Search Function. - Pink News: Europe's Largest Gay News Service: Africa. - AsylumLaw.Org: Sexual Minorities & HIV Status: Documents / Reports / Website Links / Organizations. Lesotho Documents. - Links to News Sources for GLBT World.

MSMGF News Articles & Documents Resources. By Region & Country:  - Sub-Saharan Africa: - Lesotho.

SWAZILAND - Swaziland: Being the Change for MSM (2011): I am visiting Swaziland and last night I had a wonderful conversation with three 20-something gay men—an immigration official, a nurse, and a school teacher. Into the wee hours, over a little whiskey, we talked of their disdain for closet doors (one had recently been confronted by his parents and he did not lie); of their challenges in finding true love; male circumcision; and of their dreams of marrying a man and starting a family... No research has been done here on HIV among MSM. Sadly, the government denies the existence of MSM and has not invested any funding in MSM-specific HIV programming.  The good news is that the U.S. government is examining how to conduct a study on MSM and HIV, which would prove the existence of gay men and shine a light on risk factors associated with HIV... In a country with very few freedoms (Swaziland is the last governing monarchy in Africa), it was great to be a part of a discussion of young men about to break free! - Swaziland told to legalise prostitution, gay marriage(2009): HIV and gay activists in Swaziland are calling for the legalisation of prostitution and gay marriages to bring the spread of the HIV epidemic under control. Speaking at the country’s National Smart Partnership Dialogue in Manzini on Wednesday, Swaziland Aids Support Organisation (SASO) spokesperson, Vusi Matsebula, said it was necessary to conduct a study to look at the role prostitutes play in the spread of the disease.

Gays turned back in clinics (2010, Alternate Link): The gay community further said there was a high HIV infection rate amongst them, but due to the lack of treatment they would soon die. This shocking revelation was made by Jimmy James Lotter of the Gay Lesbian Association of Swaziland Against HIV/AIDS to the visiting UNAIDS Executive Director and UN Under Secretary General Michel Sidibe. Lotter made this revelation at the Royal Swazi Convention Centre when Sidibe met with the Civil Society Representatives. - Sex Change Teacher Caught Sodomizing Prisoner (2011, Alternate Link): controversial sex change - teacher Patricia Dludlu (born Patrick) is at it again. This time around he was  allegedly caught sodomising a male inmate he was booked with at the Matsapha Correctional Services facility. The incident happened last Friday at around 3:00am. Initially, Dludlu was booked and shared a cell with two inmates; his ‘partner’ and another inmate. A highly placed source within the Correctional Services revealed that the two  allegedly sodomised each after agreeing terms. “No one was attacked,” said a source. The third inmate, who shared the cell with the two ‘love birds’, was irked by their actions and decided to report them to the officers who acted on the matter. - DPM’s office will support, protect sex change teacher (2010): The Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku has said his office will support and protect the teacher who underwent a sex change. The DPM said as his office was responsible for the welfare of all citizens in the country, they could offer support through counselling to Patricia who had her male organs removed and replaced with female ones. The teacher who was previously called Petros has been subject to some public humiliation and the DPM said this should not be the case.

Press vilified over lesbian's death (2010): The murder of lesbian woman and Swaziland gay rights activist Pitseng Vilakati is beginning to attract international attention. The latest reaction questions the role of the Swazi media in vilifying Vilakati and Thui Rudd, the woman she was planning to marry. Rudd has been arrested for the murder of Vilakati, but people are beginning to question whether Rudd is really guilty or whether she has been set up by the Swazi media which hysterically attacked the couple after they publicly declared their love and their intention to marry... - Homophobia Heightens in Swaziland (2010, Alternate Link): On the 29th of December 2009 a lesbian woman and human rights activist, Thuli Rudd, also known as Thulani, was arrested on her way back home in Swaziland at the border from South Africa... Whilst in South Africa, Thulani had met with activists and discussed the endless violations of her and her partner’s human right to dignity, freedom and equality throughout 2009. There had been major media coverage of their relationship with numerous distortions and misrepresentations as well as a massive public reaction which was largely hostile, insulting and deeply disrespectful... We call on the state to ensure a prompt, full and thorough investigation to bring the murderer or murderers to book. We call on the state in its prosecution of Thulani Rudd to exercise fairness and to ensure that the homophobia that exist, even within the criminal justice system, and the violations of the rights of LGBT people are not allowed to permeate and colour the state’s case. Thulani has the constitutional right to innocence until proved guilty following thorough investigation and a fair trial...

Swaziland: Lesbian murder case - partner still in custody (2010). - Will Swazi lesbian get a fair trial (2010). - Rest in Peace, Pitseng Vilakati (2010): Even though she chose to live her life in the public eye, I find myself feeling uncomfortable speculating so personally about someone I barely knew, so I'll stop there. The real bottom line for me is, at any rate, this: though I'll never be sure of the "truth," the questions this raises express a larger truth. When an identity is so stigmatized, when a couple sharing that identity chooses to live so thoroughly in the public eye, their stories are terribly twisted—not just to outsiders but, I suspect, to themselves. And it hurts, how the politics causes us to think in awful Machiavellian ways about matters of justice: "I almost hope it's the lover," said a friend of mine upon hearing the news, "then at least it wasn't a hate crime." To which I had to say: "But at least if it's a hate crime, it won't be used to shame every Swazi lesbian for the next twenty years."

Swazi army harasses lesbian (2010): A female soldier who is said to have ‘wept uncontrollably’ at the funeral of a murdered lesbian woman is being harassed by the army. The soldier, who is reported by the Times of Swaziland to have been an ex-lover of the dead woman Pitseng Vilakati, says since the funeral she is being harassed at work. She is also being investigated by the Intelligence Department, presumably because he is suspected of being a lesbian.. - A Swazi Guide to Lesbians (2011): So what can we do about the lesbian problem plaguing Swaziland? The only thing left is to pray harder. This default reaction is the same one we have used with great success in the fight against HIV, the collapsing economy, corruption, TB, and so on.  Only then can we be rid of this latest scourge which is plaguing our land and newspaper front pages and will continue to do so until we have time to make up new stories about demons, or even better, to focus our attention on other minority groups against whom we can stir up irrational fears, unfounded prejudice and hatred in the public interest..

Pakade, Noman (2011). From the horse’s mouth: Township perceptions on the Black Butch Lesbian identity. In: Saskia E. Wieringa (ed), Women-Loving-Women in Africa and Asia, pp. 464-486. Amsterdam: TRANS/SIGN Report of Research Findings. PDF Download.  Space, race, and class are important in understanding sexual identities. Masculinity is not only limited to mannerisms or playing soccer, but is relative as some participants share household chores and do not mind being ‘tickled too’. This research has shown that the butch/femme dichotomy limits the understanding of the Black butch identity, as the masculine traits of the butch identity were unpacked as unstable and complex relations within self, how others perceive them, and how the butch thinks others perceive them; that is, another world outside themselves also shapes their identity. One of dominant themes is the notion of being perceived as the dominant lesbian which also serves a protective function in the township’s hostile environment, but simultaneously, this seemingly asserts the butch identity. Comingout in this research was not a central phenomenon. Language in relation to terms used amongst sexual identities contradicts other researcher’s findings who found some of the terms as derogatory. One of the main elements of the research was that the notion of masculinity alone is not a useful concept to capture the butch identity and this research has highlighted this issue. Comparative research on Black lesbian identities needs to be further explored and investigated in as much as how the butch identity may play itself as gender transgressive identity, but also within the heterosexual framework.

Homophobia in Africa (2010): Homophobia in Swaziland: Homophobia in Swaziland is less publicised than that of Zimbabwe or Uganda, and Swazi homosexuals are perhaps less likely to flaunt their homosexuality, but the level of homophobia in Swaziland is no less worrying. Male homosexual acts are illegal in Swaziland and there are no laws against discrimination against homosexuals; the International Gay and Human Rights Commission reported in 2005 that “societal discrimination against homosexuals [in Swaziland] was strong, and homosexuals often concealed their sexual preferences”; the press often refer to homosexuals in hateful terms; and homosexuality is seen by many as ungodly, unSwazi and unacceptable. A recent example of homophobia in Swaziland is the case of lesbian woman and human rights activist, Thuli Rudd, who has been repeatedly and publicly condemned for her relationship with her girlfriend. Their relationship was extensively covered in the media, most of this coverage and the subsequent public reaction to it being overwhelmingly hostile. There are voices of reason in Swaziland on LGBT-issues, however, as the defense of transgender Patricia Dludlu by both the deputy Prime Minister and Swaziland National Union of Students' President, Maxwell Dlamini, shows.

Swaziland’s most prominent gay rights advocate is back in the news (2009):  The Times Sunday reports that Mangosuthu Simanga Dlamini, the president of Gays and Lesbians Association of Swaziland (Galeswa) was present by invitation at the state opening of parliament earlier this month (February 2009). Both Mangosuthu and the newspaper are silent on who it was who invited him to the opening officiated by King Mswati III. Mangosuthu came to notice in Swaziland in 1997 when on national television he publicly declared that he was a homosexual. His statement was seen as such a threat to the stability of Swaziland that Barnabas Dlamini, the then Prime Minister, (and also the present illegally-appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland) called homosexuality ‘abnormality and sickness’ and declared that the government would not accept homosexuals unless society did so first. A former Prime Minister Prince Bhekimpi, who is also a chief, said, ‘Homosexuality is regarded as Satanic in Swaziland. Therefore, I am forced to evict all gays and lesbians in my area.’ King Mswati III, speaking at a national prayer meeting on the one occasion  when he mentioned same-sex relations, said gay people were possessed of Satanic notions.Mangosuthu, who was 21 years old at the time, responded by challenging Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini to a televised debate on homosexuality. Barnabas being a bully and a coward chickened out and refused to appear.  After declaring his homosexuality, Mangosuthu was sacked from his job at a security firm and was believed to have moved to South Africa, where, unlike in Swaziland, equality of gays and lesbians is enshrined in the country’s constitution. The Times Sunday reported (15 February 2009) that Mangosuthu was now back in the country and instrumental in developmental projects in the Lubombo region – his home area.

Homosexuals left out in constitution (2006, Alternate Link): The gay community in Swaziland is worried that the new constitution does not address their rights. They believe it is too general about their rights as it only addresses freedom of expression and opinion. A gay socialite, whose identity is deliberately withheld, told this newspaper that he was disappointed that Swaziland seemed not to recognise gays. "The truth is we are here and it won't help to pretend as if we don't exist. I believe we should also be protected because we are also human beings. We need to be recognised," he stated. The socialite said he found it difficult to tolerate the attitude most Swazis had towards homosexuals. - Constitution may include gays (2006, Alternate Link): Gays and lesbians may be considered for inclusion in the country’s constitution. This was disclosed by the Deputy Attorney General Mzwandile Fakudze at King Sobhuza II Memorial Park yesterday during the capacity building workshop for Members of Parliament. they were discussing about the rights of people. Fakudze said it was up to ministers to include them in the constitution. He added that they were a lot of matters, which were yet to be discussed and agreed upon before being added in the constitution.. - Swazi constitution mum on gays, lesbians (2006, Alternate Link).

GALESWA is back (2006, Alternate Link): The Gays and Lesbians Swaziland Association (GALESWA), a once popular association of gay people led by one Mangosuthu, has been re-laun-ched. The association has themed 2006, a year of coming out of the closet. Though not giving specific details of possible planned marriages, a member of the organisation, Jimmy Lotter, said they had about 45 members whom they were currently talking to on this subject... “We do not want to be called Titabani (the siSwati word referring to gays) as we feel that is stigmatisation. From today onwards, expect to see gays and lesbians walking hand in hand, cuddle and kiss in public. We now have a support group for those gays living with HIV and AIDS. As gay people, we want everyone to understand that gays are not made, but are born and all we want is for the entire Swazi Nation to involve us in the fight against HIV and AIDS,” said Lotter.
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Pastor says AU is evil (2007, Alternate Link, Alternate Link): In what may be viewed as unfortunate utterances, Chairman of the League of Swaziland Churches Bishop Samson Hlatjwako has appealed to His Majesty King Mswati III that Swaziland should not join the African Union organisation because it is evil. He made this remarks when pastors under the league came to bid the King farewell at Ngabezweni Royal Residents yesterday. He said the AU brought evil habits. He said they had witnessed in the other continents where gays and lesbians were allowed to marry other people of the same sex. “We do not want to see the same thing happening in Swaziland. Such things are evil and they are against God. We are right the way we are. Your Majesty, God chose you to lead, protect us,” he said... - Swaziland Government warns  homosexuals or sodomy are liable to imprisonment (2005, Alternate Link). - Memorandum to the Government of Swaziland on the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill (2006): The inclusion of the provision in Section 4 of the SO Bill to criminalise "sexual acts" (as defined in the Preamble) between two consenting adults of the same sex and impose a minimum two-year jail sentence is contrary to Swaziland’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Gay teacher: I sodomised pupil (2005): A gay teacher has admitted to sodomising a pupil in his house after sending him on a fake errand... Thando Gamedze* is a former primary school teacher in the Lubombo region who proclaims that he is a male in the gay world... "After having sex with him, he told the authorities about the deed and the authorities reported the matter to the Ministry of Education," he said. When talking about what prompted his visit to our newsroom, he said, "I was inspired by the guys who were bold enough to come out." "I feel so bad now, for had I come out then about my sexuality, I would have had a partner a longtime ago and I would not have fallen into the mess I am in now," he said. 

Swazi gays get first same-sex club in kingdom. How many gays are there in Swaziland? The attorney sees the club engendering "limitless" opportunities for blackmail, financial and political. He plans to visit the club when it opens and hand out his business cards to potential clients. "The British colonial law against sodomy is still on the books. It's inviolate. The traditional leaders who run the country despise homosexuality. They are Mugabesque in that way," he said... Speaking about the gay bar, Gama said: "This is done by evil people. This is something that not even the Bible allows and our culture does not allow. This is not acceptable even by nature." ... The announcement of a gay club in Mbabane was treated as an alien onslaught in the local press. "Gays invasion!" said one headline. - The formation of Swaziland's first gay group has causedan uproar (1997). - Limping into the African Renaissance: "Stop what you are doing! In Swaziland we are afraid of this" Steven Cohen is told during his Queer Performance Art in Swaziland.

No condoms in prison (2003): In Swaziland, the government acknowledged the fact that homosexuality in prisons enhances the spread of HIV/AIDS, but has not provided condoms to inmates, concentrating instead of efforts to curb prison sex. "Correctional service authorities will be encouraged to take all necessary measures, including adequate staffing, surveillance and appropriate disciplinary measures, to protect prison inmates from rape, sexual violence and coercion," the ministry of health says in its 'Policy Document on HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention and Control'. Recently, the Family Life Association of Swaziland, an NGO that leads a campaign for safe sex practices, offered to provide prisoners with free condoms. However, the prisons department said last week it would not allow it because "it is against the country's policy on the use of condoms". - HIV/AIDS in the Umbufto Swaziland Defence Force (2006, PDF Download. PDF Download): What remains unrecorded, and therefore falling outside the body of major research initiatives, is the unspoken homosexual dimension of the problem among the population. Strong cultural inhibitions continue to make homosexuality a taboo discussion in Swaziland.

Amantanyula (2002): I was reading the Swaziland 'What's On' and there was a revue of the book called (Emajaha Ekuluseni) meaning, 'boys in the field looking after the cattle'. And the subject of sexuality came up. It was the "amantanyula" or, boy's doing each other while looking after the cattle that grabbed me the most. The question is, as amantanyula is an African word and sodomy a western one, are they different things? My understanding is that amantanyula means sodomy. I may be wrong but many Africans do not have a problem with amantanyula but would have a problem with sodomy... Talking about freedom of sexuality, we are not talking constitutionally, but culturally. Is it African to be gay or not? The book takes a very African point of view. Most of the young Swazi boys in the book grew up in the late 1980s and slept with other boys, and yet would still regard themselves as African. African boys who happen to take it up the ass as a boy. But we all grow up in a different way, in a different Africa. Isn't that so? In some African countries, culture includes same sex behaviour but not gay identity or a gay community as like in western culture. Back in 1986-1987, until late1990 in a small village in South Africa called KwaNgwane, which is very nearby to Swaziland, you could find the same amantanyula practise. And inside Swaziland boys who looked after the cattle in the forest would have sexual intercourse with each other. This was only for boys over the age of 16 to prove their "man-hood" before they slept with any woman. It was okay that both parents and the community would know about it and they would be happy that their boy is becoming a man. Though they never understood, what they were promoting was homosexuality, they respected it as traditional behaviour and they praised it and loved it - so much that some never stopped. "Some boys passed into manhood and got married but now and then they still need some man's wood to remain pure men," say's Mr Bhokondvo Nkosi, a Maths teacher of Emagogeni high school. "The difference before the western influence is that it was ok to practice this type's of sexuality and now most African parents are considering it as "homosexuality" as it is labelled and therefore it is regarded as a silly influence from the civilised countries and as a western disease." ...

Resources: - Behind the Mask - A Web Site on Gay and Lesbian Affairs in Africa. - Africa by Country: Swaziland.  Swaziland Archive. - African Veil: Countries Covered: Swaziland.  - Queer afrol. - Afrol News; Gay/Lesbian Archives. - theGully.com news & Articles: Africa.

Global Gayz: Africa: Swaziland News Reports From 2009 to the Present. - ILGA: Africa: Swaziland. - LGBT rights in Swaziland. - Sodomy Laws. - Human Rights Watch: Use Search Function. - Amnesty International: Use Search Function. - Pink News: Europe's Largest Gay News Service: Africa. - AsylumLaw.Org: Sexual Minorities & HIV Status: Documents / Reports / Website Links / Organizations. - Sudan Individual Documents Since 2000. - Links to News Sources for GLBT World.

MSMGF News Articles & Documents Resources. By Region & Country:  - Sub-Saharan Africa: - Swaziland.