On World Homeless Day, 10 October, the question facing Cape Town is not simply how many people are sleeping on its streets, but whether LGBTQIA+ people can find somewhere safe to call home — even temporarily.
For some queer people, homelessness begins at home. A parent’s rejection, family violence, discrimination or the loss of financial support can turn the place that should offer protection into somewhere they can no longer stay.
For transgender people, escaping an unsafe home can be followed by another struggle: finding emergency accommodation where their gender identity is respected.
In Cape Town, where thousands of people experience homelessness, access to appropriate shelter remains an urgent concern. The City of Cape Town reported that more than 6,600 people were sleeping rough in the city, according to Census 2022.
Its Safe Spaces programme provides overnight accommodation, meals, social work assistance and referrals to support services.
Yet having a shelter system does not automatically mean that every person can access a safe and suitable bed.
The Commission for Gender Equality has previously raised concerns about the lack of a standardised approach to accommodating LGBTQIA+ people in shelters, calling for clearer policies and protections against discrimination. For transgender people, uncertainty around admission and placement can make an already difficult situation more precarious.
South African clinical guidance recommends that shelters accommodate transgender people according to their self-identified gender. However, questions remain about how different facilities implement inclusive practices, particularly when identity documents do not reflect a person’s gender identity.
Cape Town has dedicated LGBTQIA+ accommodation, including the Pride Shelter Trust, which provides temporary accommodation for LGBTQIA+ people experiencing homelessness and crisis. The Haven Night Shelter also has an LGBTQIA+-designated dormitory at its Culemborg 2 facility.
However, information obtained for this article indicates that the Culemborg 2 dormitory has a waiting list. When dedicated accommodation is full, the availability of appropriate alternatives becomes critical. For someone sleeping outside, being placed on a waiting list does not answer the immediate question of where they will sleep that night.
The questions that remain unanswered
Ahead of World Homeless Day, MambaOnline approached The Haven Night Shelter’s chief executive officer for information about LGBTQIA+ bed capacity, waiting-list numbers, admission criteria and the accommodation of transgender applicants.
The City of Cape Town was asked to clarify its policies on transgender placement, the availability of LGBTQIA+-designated beds and the arrangements made when those beds are full. Gender Dynamix was also approached for its perspective on the barriers transgender
people face when seeking emergency accommodation.
At the time of publication, no responses had been received from the organisations approached.
Without those responses, the precise scale of unmet demand and the current procedures followed by individual facilities could not be established through these enquiries. The questions nevertheless highlight the importance of transparent admission policies, adequate
shelter capacity and clear protections for transgender residents.
World Homeless Day should be more than a reminder that people sleep on pavements, in doorways and beneath bridges. It should also prompt a conversation about who can access safety, who is left waiting and what happens when the available services cannot meet someone’s needs.
A shelter should offer more than protection from the cold. It should provide dignity, security and the reassurance that a person does not have to defend their identity to receive assistance.
For Cape Town’s homeless queer community, the goal must be more than finding a bed. It must be finding a place where being LGBTQIA+ is not another barrier to having somewhere to sleep.
Because on World Homeless Day, a safe place to sleep should not depend on who you are.
