this reliance on the gay grapevine has so obviously not worked out for them…dont they know that mouths are for other things besides passing on news?

Well written article!

GG

agreed. I entirely agree Christo. Its all good and well to say that we need to be integrated and welcoming to straight folks in our gay space, and in THEORY, in a perfect world that would work out perfectly. But in reality, many straight men (and women) are still very homophobic. What happens when we dilute our safe space in order to be inclusive at our own cost? Especially when those who we would like to include want to exclude us?

It seems to me that Bronx and Cruz got forced out, in order to have nice clean hetero block. I dont know all the details but its odd that the two gay clubs on the block had to move yet the sports bar and opium AND kalahari (or whatever that place next door is called) get to stay, no??

re: Why so aggro?. Mister, I really only have two questions for you: are you from Cape Town? And if you are, did you frequent the De Waterkant gay village regularly? Many people have unfortunately not experienced the “us-against-them”-feeling in Cape Town’s gay area but that doesn’t change the fact that, with the influx of heterosexual venues – some of which do not even have a dress code, the gay life in Cape Town, the whole “we are family with our own village” mentality, became completely diluted.

I lived in Cape Town for 17 years and on weekends, the old Bronx/Angels/Detour (and later 55, Sliver and Cruz) offered a safe haven where we could let our hair down and party without the straight people (whom we got more than enough of at University). I go back to Cape Town every December holiday and it just ain’t fun no more. I could handle the trendoids and schmodels from Opium (and the drunk bunch leaving the Cape Quarter), but with Cubana and Pulse right there in the heart of OUR village, it became a dreadful, unsafe place.

Yes, we all know straights who know how to dress, speak and behave – otherwise we wouldn’t have bothered with them. Those we take everywhere and anywhere. It’s those who do not know how to dress, speak and behave that is invading our territory.

On another note though, this problem isn’t limited to Cape Town – the same complaints were heard about DCM in the Heartlands. And even a montly party, like Qc in Taboo/The Palms – something billed as a gay event – as too many straights for my liking.

The gay community has always been treated as something “different”, something that belongs on the outskirts of society. If we make the effort to then create a space on the outskirts, a space for US, the heterosexual do not dare take it away!

i agree
And one major fact we meed st8s to make our venues work…..
The gays are to fickel and never apreceate what they get and still want every thing for free ….and the gay boys like the chalange to pick up a st8 man…………

Come on we are all in this town and have done so well and think economics has taken over

So if you want a gay area at least go there so it can make a living and stay there for a long time to come

Look at most citys over seas and think for a moment before you shout out what the” hell the st8s doing there”