The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) in the Western Cape has criticised the news that Cape Town was named the world’s top city destination for LGBTQ+ travellers.
Last week, Cape Town Tourism’s Chief Marketing Officer, Briony Brookes, accepted the award for Best LGBTQ+ City Destination at the 2026 Spartacus Travel Awards in Berlin.
While many welcomed the recognition as a boost for the city’s tourism sector, the ACDP used the opportunity to reiterate its longstanding intolerance and bigotry towards LGBTQ+ people.
ACDP Criticises the Recognition
In an official statement on Facebook, Ferlon Christians, the ACDP’s Western Cape leader and a Member of the Provincial Legislature, said the award was “not a proud moment for the Mother City.”
He asserted that the accolade “represents a deeply misguided celebration of an agenda that stands in direct opposition to Biblical truth and the moral convictions held by many residents of our province.”
Christians continued: “While the ACDP affirms that every person possesses inherent dignity and must be treated with respect, the Party cannot and will not endorse the promotion of lifestyles that contradict God’s design for family and society.”
He further added that “elevating such recognition as a defining achievement for Cape Town sends the wrong message about the values that should guide our communities.”
Party Also Targets Pride Celebrations
Last month, the ACDP also condemned the city’s Pride celebrations, which concluded with the annual parade and Mardi Gras on 28 February.
Christians stated that “the ACDP remains diametrically opposed to the LGBTQ+ movement and its ideological agenda. We believe this stands in direct contradiction and stark contrast to Biblical truth and God’s design for family and marriage.”
He affirmed the party’s right, as protected by the Constitution, “to express our religious convictions peacefully and without apology, while treating all people with dignity and respect.”
It remains unclear how condemning a group of people as immoral, ungodly and a threat to the family because of who they love or how they identify is consistent with treating them “with dignity and respect.”
Long History of Opposition to LGBTQ+ Rights
The ACDP has long promoted anti-LGBTQ+ positions. The party attempted to block LGBTQ+-affirming motions in Parliament and voted against the passage of the Civil Union Act that legalised same-sex marriage in South Africa in 2006.
In 2021, the party protested against the Western Cape’s draft policy on gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools, claiming that it “promotes promiscuity” and aims “to change the sexual and gender norms of society.”
The following year the ACDP demanded that the rainbow crossing installed in Cape Town to celebrate the city’s LGBTIQ+ community be removed.
2 Responses
Gay men and anal sex live in these people’s heads. They’re obsessed with us. I love it!
During a 2.5 week holiday in South Africa which included Johannesburg, St. Lucia, a game lodge, Durban, and Cape Town and the Cape, our FAVORITE day of all was discovering we were staying near the Gay Pride Mardi Gras in Cape Town! We spent the entire day at the festival, having the most fun! We listened to music and danced, people-watched, shopped at booths, ate from food trucks, and talked to a lot of folks. It was the most integrated, crime-free, and relaxing experience we had in beautiful South Africa. We are seriously contemplating returning for the global festival in ’28. The ACDP has no idea what it is talking about! Oh, and we are white Americans in our late 60s, by the way. Freedom is for everyone!