Cape Town - “Love the person, not the label.” This was the sentiment of Cape Town Pride Organizer, Matthew van As. This year there were more than 10 000 people that attended the festival. The festival began over a decade ago to raise awareness about the challenges that face the LGBTQ+ community and to continue fighting for their freedoms.
However, there have been rumours that the Cape Town Pride is only for the “white” members of the LGBTQ+ community. Van As believes that this is not the case.
“Cape Town Pride 2019 was the eclectic, diverse and inclusive Pride since its inception. This idea that Cape Town Pride is only for the white community is very antiquated. This year the majority of people attending were people of colour and female. Anyone who attended Pride this year would have seen this,” van As said.
Some of those who have been to Cape Town Pride such as Branden Grant felt that there is nothing wrong with the events themselves but rather location.
“The point of the parade is to remind people that we are here, and a force to be reckoned with. But if we march in an area that is already considered gay-friendly, that defeats the purpose,” Grant explained.
Despite the Cape Town Pride taking place every year in February, there are still some cases of discrimination against those who are in the LGBTQ+ community.
Neena Borrill and her partner Tosca Marthinus have experienced discrimination because of their relationship.
“I’ve experienced plenty of discrimination. My girlfriend and I were waiting at a bus stop with other people. A school student called us dykes. An elderly couple (specifically the lady) told us to stop being inappropriate in public. All we were doing was holding hands and exchanged a quick kiss or two,” Borrill said.
But she believes that the hatred towards the LGBTQI community has improved over the last two decades. This is a sentiment shared by Hendrik Baird, the station manager for GaySA internet Radio station. Baird explained that there have been very few recent reported incidents of violence towards the LGBTQI community.
However, he believes the LGBTQI youth still face discrimination from those who come from religious backgrounds. Baird explained that those you are raised in a religious community might face being disowned by their families when they come out.
Religious discrimination against the LGBTQI was recently brought under the spotlight when the Pretoria High Court ruled that it was unfair for the Dutch Reformed Church to scrap their 2015 decision to recognise same sex marriage.
In May of last year Reverend Oscar Bougardt was given a 30 day jail sentence, suspended for five years for his anti-gay remarks. Bougardt still clings to his belief that same-sex relationships are abnormal and believes that he is being discriminated for his religious beliefs.
“I do not believe in love between people of the same sex, so in my world they don't exist. For those who are involved in such relationships, they do it out of lust and not love. It is not only these people who are discriminated against, the very people you try to protect are the ones who discriminate against my religious beliefs. We live in a society where people wants us to accept the abnormal behaviour of homosexuals and say it's normal,” Bougardt explained.
It's believed that Bougardt is an isolated case. Reverend Laurie Gaum of the Dutch Reformed church explained the High Court’s decision was an exciting outcome and that it was a very clear win.
“I think that the religious community has changed completely. There will still be fundamentalists that will spread hate but there is a large religious community that supports the LGBTI+ community,” van As explained.