PRIDE VICTIM DISCHARGED

Radio 702 has reported that the 18 year old female victim of the bottle throwing incident at this weekend’s Lesbian and Gay Pride event was discharged from Johannesburg hospital on Sunday. The woman was seriously injured when she was struck by a broken bottle thrown from a building, which pierced her neck.

Pride organisers received an SMS message, apparently from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GLA), a discredited and elusive ‘organisation’ thought by some to consist of one man. The message, which appears to support, if not actually incite, violence against the LGBTI community, reads:

“The GLA welcomes the thrown (sic) of objects onto marchers from buildings yesterday as it was directed to drags. We warned u bout allowing drags before.”

The GLA has consistently issued tirades about drag queens over the last two years, as reported in Johannesburg’s Saturday Star this weekend. Most GLBTI media have taken the position of ignoring the organisation’s communications, which are described by some as hate speech.