Music, comedy and celebration took centre stage on 17 October as Apollo’s Taberna et Mixtarium in Linden, Johannesburg, hosted Die Patsy!, an evening celebrating Pride Month and queer Afrikaans culture.
The event featured singer-songwriter and artist Armand Joubert, drag queen Regina Blaque and special guest DJ Lotion. Guests enjoyed a lively night of music, hilarious comedy and community, celebrating the freedom to embrace queerness and cultural heritage without compromise.
For Blaque, the event reflected the purpose of Queer in Afrikaans, a platform challenging prejudice and creating space for LGBTQ+ people within Afrikaans-speaking communities.
“Queer in Afrikaans grew from my experience of being both queer and Afrikaans. Growing up, I struggled to see how these two parts of my identity belonged together,” she said.
“Embracing one should never require rejecting the other.”
Blaque explained that while Afrikaans communities encompass people of different races, backgrounds and beliefs, queerness is still treated as incompatible with the culture in some families and social spaces.
“Rejecting our identities does not erase our existence. It creates exclusion within our own culture,” she said.
She believes equality must begin at home, with families confronting homophobia and transphobia through honest conversations and ensuring LGBTQ+ people receive love and respect from those closest to them.
Blaque said Queer in Afrikaans has already made a difference, with parents finding resources through the podcast to better understand and accept their queer children, while others have found a greater sense of belonging through the platform.
“Those experiences give this work its purpose,” she said.
Through the podcast and events such as Die Patsy!, Blaque hopes to encourage people to listen, learn and connect while celebrating openly in Afrikaans.
She also thanked Joubert for collaborating on the event, highlighting their decade-long history of working together in queer spaces to uplift the community. DJ Lotion received special thanks for bringing the party spirit to the evening.
Ultimately, Blaque hopes to create a future where queer Afrikaans people can grow up proud of who they are, without feeling pressured to choose between their identity and their culture.
They deserve acceptance within both.
Enjoy our gallery of pictures of Die Patsy Pride 2026 event below by Xolani Khumalo.
