A parade participant dons the Pride flag, which has been altered to emulate the South African flag. PHOTO: Kirthana Pillay
The University of Stellenbosch queer society (QueerUS) questioned the role of political parties being present at the Cape Town Pride Parade and Mardi Gras, at the end of February.
Parties in attendance included GOOD, the DA and the ANC. The DA participated in the Pride Parade by driving cars decked out in their signature blue flag, along with colourful balloons and other pride paraphernalia.
The Democratic Alliance formed part of the Cape Town Pride Parade with a range of cars decorated in DA colours, balloons and other Pride embellishments. PHOTO: Kirthana Pillay
“The Democratic Alliance has for the past 10 years or so been part of Cape Town Pride – the reason being that our party’s values are very much in line with Pride’s values,” stated Roberto Quintas, city ward councillor and DA metro LGBTQI+ chairperson.
According to leaders of the society, members of QueerUS, the Stellenbosch society for members of the LGBTQI+ community, believe that political issues are relevant to members of the queer community. However, QueerUS does believe that Pride may not be the appropriate platform for political parties to garner support.
“I think Pride is definitely political for obvious queer rights issues, however, the political nature of Pride is not the main focus of the event,” commented Paul Joubert, the QueerUS education executive.
“Political parties are almost completely silent throughout the year on what their manifestos say about the LGBT community… and then you see them at Pride and I find that very hypocritical,” said Chanté Arab, QueerUS chairperson.
A parade participant holds a poster that states: “ANC WC supports LGBTIAQ+ rights” PHOTO: Kirthana Pillay
The event was also of significant importance to queer citizens of Cape Town, as it brought people with shared experiences together in a safe environment.
“It was so empowering to be in a group of people that you can relate to, without even knowing them, just because they’ve gone through the same struggle as you in some way,” said Ché Harris, another attendee of the event.
According to Joubert, the society will be organising a Pride week to be held in Stellenbosch around the time of International Pride month, later this year. International Pride month is in June.