Tutu’s daughter welcomes Anglican proposal to allow same-sex civil unions
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has announced that the Anglican Church of Southern Africa will soon discuss a proposal to be more accepting of gay and lesbian relationships. Most controversially, the measure proposes that clergy who identify as LGBTI and are in legal same-sex civil unions should be licensed to minister in parishes. The motion also “suggests […]
Yes! With Sunette Viljoen, SA’s team LGBT wins first Rio medal
Sunette Viljoen has become Africa’s first openly LGBT athlete to win a medal at the Rio Olympics. The 32-year-old, who is a survivor of homophobic abuse, scored a silver in the women’s javelin throw, with a distance of 64.92m. She was beaten to the gold by Croatia’s Sara Kolak (a throw of 66.18m). Barbora Spotakova of the […]
Older gay men’s support group launched in Joburg
Are you a gay man over 45? Do you sometimes struggle with the challenges that life brings to you, whether it is changing your career direction, new challenges in your relationships, the demands of ageing parents, fitting into a youth-obsessed gay scene, or even just sometimes making sense of what is happening in your life? […]
East London Feather Awards Dialogue tackles violence against LGBTI
The seventh Chevrolet Feather Awards Dialogue takes place in East London on Saturday 20 August. This year, the annual awards ceremony is marking its eighth anniversary by travelling to eight provinces to engage with communities about LGBTI issues and challenges. The dialogues are hosted in partnership with long standing sponsors Chevrolet and Films and Publications […]
Breaking: Man arrested for murder of Potchefstroom gay teen
A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Lesley Makousa, a 17-year-old LGBT Potchefstroom school pupil. Constable Trom from the Ikageng SAPS told Mambaonline that the 32-year-old suspect had appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. The man was identified by witnesses who saw him with Makousa, who was openly gay. Police […]
Another gay Christian minister takes church to court for being fired
In what he’s described as the hardest 570 days of his life, a gay Christian minister is fighting back against the church that he says fired him because of his sexuality. Philip Olivier, 36, was dismissed from his position of minister in the Afrikaanse Protestant Church (APC) of Groblersdal in Limpopo on 18 November 2014. He […]
Why Caster Semenya and Dutee Chand deserve to compete (and win) at Rio 2016
The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s suspension of regulations on hyperandrogenism – a medical condition that causes an excessive amount of testosterone in the body – cleared the track for Indian sprinter Dutee Chand and other female athletes, including South Africa’s Caster Semenya, to compete at the Rio Olympics this year. Semenya is the favourite […]
Traditional healers show that being gay is African
Zipho Mzayiya, 24, became a traditional healer two years ago. He is also gay. “Being initiated to become a traditional healer is not fun and games. It is hard. No one would do it for fun,” he said. His parents encouraged him to become a sangoma because they believed he had a calling. Mzayiya spoke […]
Aww! Another same-sex Olympic marriage proposal in Rio
British race walker Tom Bosworth has become the second LGBT athlete in a same-sex marriage proposal at the Rio Olympic Games. Bosworth posted a picture on Twitter on Monday that showed him on bended knee proposing to his boyfriend Harry Dinley on Copacabana Beach. The 26-year-old track and field star captioned the image with: “He […]
Transgender may be removed as mental disorder
The process of getting transgender declassified as a mental disorder took its first steps with a study conducted in Mexico City. The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal last month, found that the distress and dysfunction experienced by transgender people were more strongly related to the social rejection and violence they experienced than by […]