Joburg Pride

Hi all,

Back in October, we drove down to Johannesburg (~30 min) to attend their annual LGBT Pride festival. 

I was curious to see how it would be compare to Pride in the States.  Plus, we wanted to support what is likely one of the few LGBT pride events on the continent, given the anti-gay legislation and repressive tactics seen in other African countries.  For bonus points, see this interesting article on homophobia in Africa in the Guardian newspaper, African homophobia has complex roots, and a response,  Homophobia in Africa is Not a Single Story.  As you may know, SA's post-Apartheid constitution (fully cognizant of what it was replacing) is very progressive and outlaws discrimination against gay and lesbian people and provides full marriage rights.  We could get married here, but because of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) in the US, it would not be recognized when we return home. (See Lambda Legal's legal fight to end DOMA.)

We started at the house of friends who live near the parade route for a pre-Pride brunch.  (Apparently brunch is a pan-gay proclivity.)  Here's Adam with Nelesh, who he collaborates with at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (South Africa's equivalent of the CDC).  Adam commutes to JB a few days a week.

 

During brunch, it was decided that Noah's outfit needed some extra flair.  A pink cloth napkin was tied around his neck.  Apparently he liked his cape because he wore it proudly the rest of the day.  ("Two dads are better than one," I overheard him say to another pre-schooler he met on the parade route.)

The parade was similar to Pride parades in the States.  I noticed the majority of folks were white (in a city that has a large black African population but is also still very segregated.)  Once we arrived at the park grounds where the parade ended, the crowd seemed a bit more diverse.  I had this hopeful thought that this "rainbow nation" would be celebrating together on this rainbow day (the rainbow is often the symbol of gay pride), but there are still many divisions between people here (racial, economic, social, cultural) that will take generations to resolve, even though huge strides have been made since Apartheid was dismantled less than 20 years ago! (1994)

Indeed. 

(Here's a great post on this in Wikipedia.)

After the floats went by, the crowd joined in and marched together to a park where that was food, music, booths, the usual.

 Proudly South African

I have so much pride!

 Meanwhile, Lucy flirted with a boy on the playground.

And then showed off a bit on the high bars.

We ended the day at some friends of friends' quite fabulous house for food and dancing. 

The kids were prided out and the Safari (Adam included) slept the whole way back to Pretoria.  xo,
Glenn