Mpumalanga pride raises awareness

The Mpumalanga Gay Pride March recently took place at the Wesselton Mpumalanga Stadium in Ermelo where hundreds of gay and lesbian groups from as far as Gauteng and other places in Mpumalanga congregated to support the march.

This was the first such march to be held in the Gert Sibande District (GSD).

This year’s theme was “Stop Gender-Based Violence against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI)”.

The purpose of the march was to create awareness around the LGBTI community, fight the stigma and discrimination against gay and lesbian people and to encourage acceptance among communities in the GS region.

The Highvelder spoke to some of the gay and lesbian members about their experience.

Thotho Radebe said he has been gay since he was young and has never been attracted to a woman and his family and friends are supportive of him.

Sakhile Magagula, an educator by profession, said he realised when he was 13 that he was gay. However, he could not come out because of the discrimination and violence against gay and lesbian people. Through his friends’ support he eventually came out, although he warns those who have not come out to remain in the closet until they are ready.

Lebo Magolego thinks gay and lesbians societies are let down by the legal system. She was victimised and felt discriminated against when she reported the matter to the police as they made unpleasant remarks and asked questions unrelated to her complaint.

South Africa’s constitution guarantees equality for gay and lesbian people; however, unlike children, gays and lesbians do not a have a special section in the Bill of Rights devoted to them.

Also present were Rob Hamilton and Renugan Raidoo from the South African National Aids Council (SANAC).

The march started at the stadium, continued around the township and ended at the stadium where a formal programme was observed and a picnic was organised afterwards.
The Department of Health was also present and conducted HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT).