Cape Town - A special Daily Voiceinvestigation into life in the farming areas of the Boland found that being openly gay can be a matter of life and death.
The small town of Ceres is currently gripped by the trial of Christo Oncke, who allegedly beat and burnt a man to death for being gay.
Oncke, 29, appeared in the Cape High Court sitting in Ceres this week for killing drag queen David Olyne on a farm near Bella Vista two years ago.
Oncke claimed David had tried to perform oral sex on him. He admitted he assaulted David but denies killing him.
Violence against gays in the Boland is rife. During our visit to Ceres, one 64-year-old resident told us: “One gay is one too many.
“If it were up to me all the ‘moffies’ (gay men)would be chased out of here.
“I’m not saying anyone should be killed, but God forbid a man to lay with another man, it’s a sin.”
Openly gay resident Cameron van Wyk, 34, said he is lucky to have a job where he can be “as gay as he wants to be”.
Cameron, who works in the female-only section of a factory, says: “I used to work at a bank and there I was not allowed to wear women’s clothing or my high heels.
“I’m an 80s child and back then it was even harder for gay people to come out.
“I was teased at school and misunderstood at home, my dad wanted me to play rugby and I don’t like sports.
“They used to call me a lady-boy, a bunny. Luckily I had the support of old ‘moffies’from Cape Town.
“Some of us have been beaten but no cases ever get made because they never go anywhere.”
David’s friends say he came alive on stage as Mystique, a drag queen “who loved red lipstick and shiny things”.
The small gay community of Ceres has now formed Rainbow Angels, to encourage gays to live freely.
Cameron added: “It’s also a way to remember David and others who died before him because of their sexuality.
“They too mattered, they were not just ‘moffies’ (gay men) but men, gay but still human.”
Fabian Saim, 32, said because he is a macho gay man, people don’t mess with him: “I come from a family of labourers, my uncle was a mechanic and I worked with him, I’ve worked on the farms.
“So my challenges are a bit different from the others, but we all face the same segregation because of who we are.”
An activist from the Triangle Project, Sharon Ludwig, said it’s rare for homosexuals in rural areas to come out.
Sharon said: “A lot of them are married, have children, they are closet cases or the ‘after nines.’”
“After nines” are gay men pretending to be heterosexual, but who come out of the closet after 9pm.
Kenin Sampson, 22, said coming out nearly cost him his life: “I come from a very religious family, my grandmother is a pastor and it was regarded as a sin.
“I even had a girlfriend of two years just to satisfy my parents and keep up appearances.
“When I was 18 I tried to commit suicide because I couldn’t take it anymore, living a lie.”
After a week in hospital he went to live in Cape Town where his sexuality was accepted.
“And that’s what David tried to do,” he said.
“He moved from the Northern Cape to find a better life and just when he found acceptance, he was killed.”
Daily Voice
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