GAY CULTURES IN CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Introduction

Sub-saharan Africa has, except for South-Africa, no developed gay culture with bars, journals and movements. Although homosexuality is not absent, it is highly invisible and its presence is in general denied. Sub-saharan Africa has a strong, well developed and rich heterosexual culture that gives space to the sexual expressions of women, but gay sex is marginalized. There are however gay spaces in the major African cities, and black Africans have adopted gay ident- ities (Le Pape & Vidal 1984; Isaacs & McKendrick 1992; Gevisser & Cameron 1995; Miller 1992). South-Africa has seen an enormous political swing from white conservative politics defending apartheid to a government dominated by black progressive parties. In the old days, homosexuality was tabooized and criminalized, but under the new constitution, homosexuals are specifically protected against discrimination. Gay culture is part and parcel of the turmoil of South-African society, with a burgeoning gay movement, subculture and literature. Political developments are promising, but at the same time old habits and prejudices die hard even among progressive people. There is also a wide range of religious and ethnic groups that each have their own, often restrictive positions on sexual morality.

1. Spaces. There exists in Capetown since long gay space, especially for cruising but since some time also with bars, disco's and sauna's. These spaces are however mostly for white or "coloured" people. Black gay men often meet in private homes. Since the abolishment of "apartheid", some mixing has occurred. Capetown is quickly developing into a major gay tourist resort.

2. Language. Because of strict sexual morals and strong discrimination, a very covert gay subculture with a rich vocabulary has developed that has become a mixture of the several languages of South Africa. The "Afrikaners" make use of a terminology with many English words, and the English do the reverse. The Afrikaner gay slang is very different from the Dutch, probably because of the long separation of both languages and the lack of written material in this regard.

3. Identity and community. The white people have because of their money the easiest access to the gay subculture while "coloured" people have more possibilities to participate in it as they face less strict discrimination. The conservative protestant churches of South Africa are quite intolerant of sexual variations and make it difficult for their adherents to come out. For other groups, the situation is quite diverse. The ANC leadership, particularly Winnie Mandela, was involved in the homophobic "Stompie"-incident, but the new government has made homosexual orientation a constitutional right. Muslim groups may be again quite homophobic, but many rent boys however come from this constituency. Among miners, and also among women that have been left alone by men who work elsewhere, homosexual relations seem to have been quite common, but have not produced gay identities. Between the different ethnic groups, sexual relations are established quite often but they have to face the racism that is not extinct in the new South Africa.

4. Gender. Both in Afrikaans and English many words for gay men have a definitely feminine meaning like "moffie". Effeminacy seems to be a particularly strong trend among some black groups pointing to a strict gender dichotomy among them. In the context of Capetown, it will be very interesting to compare the diverse definitions of effeminacy among the different ethnic groups as most groups tend to relate homosexuality and femininity.

5. Age. Whereas in the black community, sexual initiation seems to take place at an early age, it is in the white community the reverse. Young black boys seem to be available for sex for older, often black but sometimes white men. The different sexual initiation practices among the diverse groups will be an import- ant research topic.

6. Sexual practices. Sexual behavior seems to be very dichotomized in the sense that a couple has often a division of active and passive. Seen the racial tensions, male and female roles might be very politicized. For black or "coloured" men, being active with a white gay man might be a revenge for racial oppression while the reverse might be felt by many people as a continuation of white repression and therefor be very controversial. At the same time, financial arrangements can blur all these distinctions again. Another interesting question is if the racial polarization has also made colour into an important fetish and produced a high level of interrracial sex.

This beautiful city, set in breathtaking scenery, is the product of diverse cultures and has become a unique center of style, adventure and hospitality. Regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world:- 'heaven at the tip of Africa' and voted as one of the top 5 Gay travel destinations, Cape Town is a cosmopolitan city with beautiful people, breathtaking scenery and far too much to see and do in just one visit.