IF YOU CANT STAND THE HEAT IN THE KITCHEN, GET OUT – MEADOWLANDS COUNCILOR AT SOWETO PRIDE

By Jerina Messie (BTM French Reporter)

AFRIQUE DU SUD- 28 September 2009: The community of Zone 2 in Meadowlands –Soweto woke up to chanting and police convoys on Saturday 26 September, as South Africa’s gays and lesbians navigated the townships’ streets calling for an end to hate crimes in an annual Pride March aiming to celebrate sexuality, identities and heritage.

This was the fourth well attended gay and lesbian march in Soweto, a township considered to be mostly rocked by homophobic hate crimes and home to the late Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Masooa who were brutally murdered in 2007 because they were lesbians.

Starting at Sputnik Garage at the Cnr Vincent and Saunders, the many participants shouted, sang and sat in protest against hate crimes as they made their way to Meadowlands Park where live performances, punctuated by speeches from activists, kept the audiences entertained.

The event was graced by the presence of Meadowlands Zone 2, ward 24 councilor Morgan Gomati who warned communities that whoever discriminates against anyone on the grounds stipulated on chapter 2 of the constitution, the Bill of Rights.

“We hear a lot about issues of hate crimes. This problem needs a lot of effort from all of us to educate each other. During events like this, we need to come out and give support in order to ensure that people are aware of each other rights”, Gomati said.

He added “If you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen get out, do not discriminate on the country’s people. South Africa belongs to everyone who lives in it.”

For Lindiwe Radebe from the Forum of Empowerment of Women (FEW) and Assistant Coordinator of the Soweto Gay Pride, this edition was definitively a success.

“It is more than expected. The fact that it is interracial is also great”, Radebe said, also commending support by the local community.

“I was not expecting the community to come and support us. But now I see that it is not only about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, we have a lot of support from all angles of the community,” she said.

Pointing out the significance of Pride, Radebe said “We use this as an advocacy platform to spread the message and to say to the community that we need your support. People need to think conscientiously about everything related to LGBTI.”

The first Soweto Pride took place in 2006 with the aim to bring about visibility and to reclaim the voices of lesbian women in the townships. Over the years, the event has grown with more people showing support at the march.

“For next year we have identified where we can grow. We are going to try and make it bigger. We will go back and see where to improve,” concluded Radebe.