Wits Pride speaks to all
Wits Pride, a week-long dedication to recognise non-conformative gender identities and diverse sexual orientations, will take place this month under the theme "Being me".
Hosted by the Wits Transformation Office, in collaboration with Activate, Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action, the Counselling and Careers Development Unit, Wits Sport and Voice of Wits, the week-long event will run from 7 to 14 September.
According to programme manager Ella Kotze, the organisers hope to involve all people, no matter how they identify on the queer spectrum. They also ensured the programme would be as accessible as possible to people with disabilities.
“The theme is Being me, and with all the events in our programme, we want to show that it is OK to be you: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, straight – or none of the above. One of the aims is to establish a safe campus community for all our students and staff,” said Kotze.
She said the rising number of attacks on queer South Africans, especially lesbian and trans-women, highlighted the importance of this aim.
“Wits Pride will join hands between students and those supportive of LGBTIA issues to show their pride and also to remember the struggle the LGBTIA community faced in obtaining their rights,” she said.
A precursor event, a Queer Drawing Marathon, kicked off the festivities in August. The official start of the programme will take place on 7 September with a Queer History Tour that will depart from the Old Fort at Constitution Hill, Braamfontein.
Other programme highlights will include a t-shirt design competition, a photo exhibition entitled ‘Beyond binaries – queer and the reconstruction of identity’ by Germaine de Larch, an information tent and safe zones mapping. and the Pride march to take place on 13 September at the Library Lawns, at 1pm.
Details: 011-717-1405; www.facebook.com/WitsPride
