BEHIND THE MASK A website on gay and lesbian affairs in (southern) Africa
 

 

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Websites


http://www.dreamwater.com/women/theresles/
The Renaissance Lesbian: A multicultural world for lesbian/lesbian-friendly women

http://www.home.intekom.com/icontact/PMBNetwork/Index.html
Website of the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

http://www.equality.org.za
Homepage of the South African Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, formerly the National Coalition.

http://www.mambaonline.com
New South African gay site with news, gallery, clubs, organisations.

http://www.geocities.com/kencage/saps.htm
South African Police Services hints on safer cruising for gay men


http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com

World news briefs, compiled by Rex Wockner.


www.wits.ac.za/gala
gala@library.wits.ac.za

Website from the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA).

www.geocities.com/gaylibrary2000
Website from the Gay and Lesbian Library in Johannesburg.

www.togs.co.za
Website from Transvaal Organisation of Gay Sports (South Africa).

www.idol.co.za
Website from Idol Production (Cape Town), listing gay and lesbian videoproductions.

www.oia.co.za
SA' annual Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Out of Africa's website.

www.gaypages.co.za
Website by SA Gay Pages.

www.kelma.org

Le site des beurs gays. French language site ofr the Moroccan, Algerian and Tunesian communities in France

www.q.co.za
Website on gay and lesbian affairs run by the Mail and Guardian weekly.

www.africaserver.nl/links/gender/magazine1_uk.htm
Amsterdam based website on Africa with a gay and lesbian section.

www.hivos.nl
Hivos

www.niza.nl
NiZA

www.itfd.org.za
Interfund

www.iglhrc.org
Website from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

www.ilga.org
Website from the International Lesbian and Gay Association

www.OutRage.org.uk
Website by UK-based actiongroup OutRage.

http://www.geocities.com/gayuganda
Still work in progress but already interesting on glbt in Uganda

http://www.gayegypt.com
Includes a gay guide to Africa's largest city, Cairo.

www.sapride.org
Everything you want to know about SA Pride 2001!

Books on homosexuality in Africa

SEXUALITY AND EROTICISM AMONGST MALES IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES

New York: Haworth Press, 1992. Includes studies of male homosexuality in Morocco, Syria, Iran, Turkey and Israel. Edited by Arno Schmitt and Jehoeda Sofer.

AFRICA DANCES

This pink travelogue by Geoffrey Gorer on 'West African Negroes' was published in the fifties by Faber and Faber in UK. Copies available in some libraries and at the Gay and Lesbian Archives in Johannesburg. 

ALIENS IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

Collection of articles on homosexuality and religion. Edited by Paul Germond and Steve de Gruchy. Published by David Philip Publishers, Cape Town, in 1997. ISBN 0-86486-330-6.

ANTI-GAY HATE CRIMES, NEED FOR POLICE INVOLVEMENT TO CURB VIOLENCE COMMITTED AGAINST GAYS

Aubrey Theron's and Christiaan Bezuidenhout's study published by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) in Johannesburg. Seminar no. 2 paper, 1995.

BLANKET BOY'S MOON

Written by Peter Lanham, and based on an original story by A.S. Mopeli-Paulus, a descendant of Moeshoeshoe, this novel is a fine piece of writing on several controversial themes. A bestseller in the 1950s, it was at that time a Book Society Recommendation. Published by David Philip, 1984,
ISBN 0 86485 016 1

BOY-WIVES AND FEMALE HUSBANDS

Partly anthropological collection of recent and historical articles on homosexuality in Kenya, Zanzibar, East African Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa. Brief summaries of some of the chapters to be found in the Africa By Country section of Behind The Mask.
Edited by Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe. Published by St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York. ISBN 0-312-21216-X, $ 29,95, 1998. For summaries of some of the chapters: see Africa By Country section. REVIEW

French Language Article: Homosexualite en Afrique

COMING OUT: GAYS AND LESBIANS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Collection of portraits by Lutz van Dijk, amonst them is Cecil Nyathi, former co-chairperson of the Gays and Lesbians of the Witwatersrand (GLOW). Published in 1998.

DEFIANT DESIRE

Collection of stories on the history of homosexuality and gay/lesbian organisation in South Africa. Edited by Mark Gevisser and Edwin Cameron. Published by Ravan Press. ISBN 0869754351.

DIFFERENT RAINBOWS
Same-Sex Sexualities and Popular Movements in the Third World

Essays edited by Peter Drucker. SA journalist Mark Gevisser on 'Mandela's stepchildren: homosexual identity in post-apartheid South Africa' and John Mburu on 'Awakenings: dreams and delusions on an incipient lesbian and gay movement in Kenya', amongst others. Gay Press, April 2000. ISBN: 1 9022852 10 9.

ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY AMONG LESBIANS AND GAY MEN

Edited by Beverly Greene, 1997. Cheryl Potgieter contributes about 'black South African Lesbians in the Ninetien' in From Apartheid to Mandela's Constitition.

EXTRA ORDINARY PEOPLE

Impressions of the Gay Games, 1998. Booklet focusing on the participants from the developing countries. Published by XminusY Solidarity Fund, Amsterdam. Written and edited by isela Dutting. E-mail: xminy@xminy.nl

FROM HERE TO DISTRICT SIX

A South African memoir with new poetry, prose and other writing by Norman G. Kester. Foreword by Tseko Simon Nkoli (1957 - 1998). Published by District Six Press, Toronto Cananda, March 2000. ISBN: 0-9686342-0-6.

GREATEST TABOO: HOMOSEXUALITY IN BLACK COMMUNITIES, THE

Essays edited by Delroy Constantine-Simms. Vasu Reddy on 'Institutionalizing Sexuality: Theorizing Queer in Post-Apartheid South Africa' and Gloria Wekker 'Mati-ism and Black Lesbianism: Two Idealtypical Expressions of Female Homosexuality in Black Communities of the Diaspora', amongst others. Alyson Books, Los Angeles/New York, January 2001. ISBN 1-55583-564-3.

HOMOSEXUALITY IN DAKAR: IS THE BED THE HEART OF SEXUAL SUBCULTURE?

Article by Niels Teunis in the Journal of Gay, Lesbiand and Bisexual Identity, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1996.

HOMOSEXUALITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Much about homosexuality, little about South Africa in this book written by Gordon Isaacs and Brian McKendrick. Published by Oxford University Press. ISBN 019570715. 

INVISIBLE GHETTO: LESBIAN AND GAY WRITING FROM SOUTH AFRICA, THE

Edited by Matthew Krouse with the assistence of Kim Berman. Published by Cosaw Publishing in 1993. ISBN 187487910 9.

LES RELATIONS HOMOSEXUELLES EN ALGERIE ET EN TUNISIE

Suivi de poemes d'amour homosexual arabes, par le Dr. Numa Practorius, traduit et presente par Patrick Cardon. Cahiers Gai Kitsch Camp, no.27

LIFE OF A SOUTH AFRICAN TRIBE, THE

Missionary reflection on homosexuality by Henri A. Junod from the Swiss Roman Mission. Published by MacMilland and Co in 1927. Available at some libraries. For instance: William Cullin Library at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

MOFFIES, GAY LIFE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Reportorial stories by Dutch journalist Bart Luirink on gay/lesbian life in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana. Published in March 2000 by David Philip Publishers, Cape Town.

REVIEW

Review by Norbert Brockman: http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v047/47.1brockman.html

 

OM GAY TE WEES. STRAF OF SEEN? ANTWOORDE OP ALLEDAAGSE VRAE VAN GAYS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Written by dr. Jean du Plessis. Published by Tafelberg Uitgewers in 1990. ISBN 0 620150912.

OUT OF THE WORLD, GAY AND LESBIAN LIFE FROM BUENOS AIRES TO BANGKOK

Written by American gay journalist Neil Miller. Reportorial stories on Cape Town, Johannesburg and Welkom. Published by Penguin Books in 1992. ISBN 13579108642.

PERSPEKTIEWE OP HOMOSEKSUALITEIT

Written by Joubert, Conradie, Louw and Hurst. Published by Uitgewery Boschendal in 1980. ISBN 0 907983 02 2

Q TRAVEL GUIDE TO QUEER SOUTH AFRICA

Edited by Martin Nel. Published by Pride and Janssen Publishers, 1999.
Lists over 600 businesses, guest houses, organisations, bars and clubs, restaurants and services countrywide. 146 pages, R 49,95.

QUEER NATIONS: MARGINAL SEXUALITIES IN THE MAGHREB

Essays on sexualities in Maghreb countries in northern Africa, Algeria, Tunesia, Morocco. By Jarrod Haves. Order via amazon.com

SEXUAL INVERSION AMONG THE AZANDE

Article published in Studies in Homosexuality, Vol. II - Ethographic Studies of Homosexuality (1992).

THIRD PINK BOOK: MALE HOMOSEXUALITY IN WEST AFRICA, THE

Article on West Africa by Gerben Potman and Huub Ruijgrok, published in 1993.

Academical articles

SEXUAL MINORITIES
A special by New Internationalist magazine, issue 328, October 2000 on sexual minorities. Anissa Helie examines current attitudes to sexual non-conformity in many Muslim societies. Shuaib Rahim reports from the country that has taken a world lead in getting legal equality for sexual minorities. And much more. http://www.oneworld.org/ni/issue328/contents.htm

SCRIPTURE AND HOMOSEXUALITY
Find a comprehensive list of positive and negative discussions regarding homosexuality and the Christian Scriptures under http://php.iupui.edu/~jtownsle/gay/gaybib.html. As of August 2000, there are 105 exegetical and theological articles (and a few books) listed here, mostly from scholastic journals.

APOSTLES OF THE CIVILIZED VICE, 'IMMORAL PRACTICES' AND 'UNNATURAL VICE' IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRISONS AND COMPOUNDS 1890 - 1920.

Zackie Ahmat tackles Charles van Onselen in Social Dynamics (19.2, 1993).

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
VOL.2, No.2

All articles: http://www.interfund.org.za/ARCHIVE.HTM#vol2no2

A quarterly journal by the South African NGO Coalition and Interfund; special issue on sexuality and sexual rights in Southern Africa, Volume 2, nr. 4.



'WHEYTING BE DAT?' THE TREATMENT OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN AFRICAN LITERATURE Expose by Chris Dunton.

L'HOMOPHILIE DANS LE ROMAN NEGRO-AFRICAN D"EXPRESSION ANGLAISE ET FRANCAISE
Published in Peuples Noirs, Peuples Africains 33 (May-June 1983)

SEXUALITY AND SPACE

This article is based on 15 months of empirical research by Teresa Dirsuweit, including interviews, in the Johannesburg Female Prison and parts of it are included in a longer unpublished paper, ‘Carceral spaces in South Africa: case study of Johannesburg Female Prison.’ The first part if the article summarises post-structural definitions of space and identity. ...MORE

'SAHWIRA' BEING GAY AND LESBIAN IN ZIMBABWE: A REVIEW OF THE GALZ ANTHOLOGY WHICH CONFRONTS MYTHS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS ON HOMOSEXUALITY
Expose by Drew Shaw, University of Cape Town.

ZIMBABWEAN LAW: THE PRODUCTION OF A WHITE MAN'S DISEASE
By Oliver Phillips, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FORM AND FUNCTION USED BY GAY MEN IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Dissertation by Ken Cage, November 1999. Also online: http://www.geocities.com/gaylanguage/

HEART OF LAVENDER: IN SEARCH OF GAY AFRICA
By Eugene J. Patron, published in Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review, Fall 1995. Also online: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/patron-africhomo.html

UNCOVERING HOMOSEXUALITY IN COLONIAL SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF BISHOP TWELLS
Article by Nichoal Southey in the South African Historical Journal, 36 (1997).

HOMOSEXUALITY, THE AFRICAN CHURCH AND CULTURE
Article by Osman Njuguna, APS Bulletin, No. 14, 8 April 1996. All African Press Service, Kenya.



DOGS ON WHEELS AND MORE MAINSTREAM MEMORABILIA: THE GAY AND LESBIAN ARCHIVES OF SOUTH AFRICA

The only one of its kind in Africa, the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA) is an independent project of the South African History Archives (SAHA). SAHA was formed in 1988 by anti-apartheid organisations and trade unions to collect the documents, posters, photographs, T-shirts and other material that told the story of the struggle against apartheid. During the apartheid years, SAHA’s ...MORE

Documentaries, Videos

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

First lesbian docu drama from Zimbabwe by Sue Maluwa Bruce, 2000. More information at www.filmwerkstatt.de

DARK 'N LOVELY, SOFT 'N FREE

Documentary on South African hairdressers in the rural areas, 2000. Produced by the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA). Directed by Paolo Alberton and Graeme Reid. Introducing Zackie Radebe. For more info see gallery.

UKAAMA : CHURCHES IN SOLIDARITY
A 34 minute production portraying the Gays and Lesbians Zimbabwe, in the possesion the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA).

WOUBI CHERIE Production on gay-life in Ivory Coast.
More information will follow.
Review: http://www.newsreel.org/films/woubi.htm

THE MAN WHO DROVE WITH MANDELA

Review by Rishika (Inside Out Film)

http://www.insideout.co.uk/films/m/man_who_drove_with _mandela.shtml

DAKAN

Guinea/France co-production, directed by Dr. Mohammed Camara. 90 minutes. 1997. Review. (Put in review here - document: dakan - and add: Review Mail and Guardian, South Africa: http://www.sn.apc.org/wmail/issues/981023/ARTS41.html

JOZIE, A QUEER TOUR OF JOHANNESBURG

A 30 minute documentary on Johannesburgs' first queer tour, directed by Paolo Alberton. With the After Nines crew, Paul Mokgethi, Graeme Reid, Mark Gevisser and Mindwalk, touroperators. September 1999.

APOSTLES OF A CIVILISED VICE, SANDO TO SAMANTHA: AKA THE ART OF DIKVEL, GAY LIFE IS BEST, BEAT IT!

Documentaries by Idol Productions (Cape Town). For more information: www.idol.co.za

A NORMAL DAUGHTER - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF KEWPIE OF DISTRICT SIX, GRANNY LEE AND SIMON NKOLI
Idol Productions will present A Normal Daughter soon.

Underdog Entertainment is presently researching it's production on legendary Granny Lee. Director Luiz deBarros is requesting that anyone who may have photographs, video or film footage of Granny Lee contacts him. He is also searching for any (amateur or professional) photographs or film and video footage of Johannesburg's gay clubs from the late sixties throught the eighties, including Mandy's, Skyline, Connections, Heaven, Champions, Zanzibar and the Dungeon.Finally, Beverley Ditsie and Nickie Newman have produced a pilot on a documentary on the late South African gay leader Simon Nkoli.

Audio

THE BROKEN LINK

Five parts series on Springbok Radio (South Africa) from 21/07/68 - 25/08/68. Two programs dealt specifically with lesbian issues. Produced by Brian Chilvers. Originals available at the SABC Sound Archives.


Statements

South Africa Durban Gay/Lesbian centre on homophobic statements mayor 17/04/01

STATEMENT BY THE DURBAN LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY AND HEALTH CENTRE RESPONSE TO MAYOR OBED MLABA’S APOLOGY

17 APRIL 2001

After Durban unicity mayor Mr Obed Mlaba was reported to have made certain homophobic comments at the opening of the Durban Investment Promotion Agency, we, the Durban Lesbian and Gay Community and Health Centre, issued a demand for a retraction of his comments, an unconditional apology to the citizens of Durban and a commitment to making Durban as gay and lesbian friendly as any other city in South Africa.

Wisely, with little delay, the mayor made his apology. We accept it. We believe he was sincere. Whether he is personally accepting of gays and lesbians is another matter. We cannot force that on him. At least in his official capacity he is unlikely to make such comments again. Accordingly we do not call for his removal from office as others have. By all accounts he is a good mayor and many of our community voted for him and the ANC. We hope that the mayor will learn from this that he cannot trample on the rights of the gay and lesbian community.

We feel obliged to record, however, that we are particularly perturbed by the mayor’s apparent constant use of the derogatory term "moffie". We call on him to stop this forthwith.

The comments made by the mayor seem to have originally arisen over issues of tourism and the potential for tapping the so-called pink rand. There is a widespread and incorrect public perception that gays and lesbians are white, middle class and wealthy and thus potentially valuable tourists. This image represents only a tiny minority of a much larger community. Perhaps the mayor is unaware that that vast majority of gays and lesbians in Durban are among the poorest, and most marginalised and disadvantaged of the population. Gay and lesbian clubs might visibly exist in the centre of town. But in every township in Durban there are informal gay and lesbian groupings. Because of public intolerance we can seldom dare to be out. We contribute nothing to the so-called "pink rand". We are not primarily concerned with issues of tourism. We are concerned with day to day survival, how to get a job, an education, access to health, etc, without being discriminated against because of our sexual orientation. The Constitution offers us real hope for dignity and equality. Issues of tourism aside, we shall also fight for our rights to equality, dignity and freedom.

The mayor’s debacle has raised many other problems that will not easily go away. And that is the official treatment that the gay and lesbian community of Durban have received by the unicity and its predecessors. On 21 April the Centre will be officially launched. No less a national figure than Judge Edwin Cameron, judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, will be the guest speaker. The mayor was invited but declined to attend nominating his deputy in his place. There are a number of issues that we would like to have discussed with the mayor. Perhaps he will now meet with us.

Despite years of attempted negotiations with the Durban North Central local council, we were constantly fobbed off. We attempted to negotiate with the council the recognition of gay and lesbian council employees, particularly the recognition of same-sex partnerships with regard to employee benefits. We would now like to know whether the unicity will recognise such unions. Will it extend medical aid and pension benefits to same-sex couples to the same extent that it provides them to married couples?

Other issues that we would like to discuss with the mayor are: Why are libraries so poorly stocked with gay and lesbian books? Are same-sex couples prioritised for council housing to the same extent that married couples are? Is the unicity prepared to do anything about gay and lesbian youths, largely from the former black townships, who are thrown out of their homes because of their sexual orientation? Will the metro police take seriously our complaints when awe are harassed and assaulted because of our sexual orientation? Will the unicity health department actively work with us in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic among the gay and lesbian community? What positive steps will the unicity take, as it is required to do so in terms of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Discrimination Act 4 of 2000, to promote gay and lesbian equality in Durban?

These are among the issues that we would like to discuss with the mayor. We formally request that he meet with us to do so.

At this stage we have no reason to place the mayor in the same category as President Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Nujoma of Namibia, who has recently called for the arrest, detention and deportation of gays and lesbians in Namibia. The mayor’s swift reaction to our demand for an apology suggests he is prepared to support gay and lesbian rights to equality. We continue, however, to demand a retraction and apology from Pres Nujoma. Will the mayor support us in this demand?

For further information, contact Nonhlanhla Mkhize (Community Centre Manager) at 031-301-2145 (t), 031-301-2147 (f) or E-mail: gaycentre@saol.com.