Changes in KYN management (2012-2013 term)

We would like to share some news pertaining to the leadership of the Network with our allies, members and colleagues.

Anzio Jacobs and Celia Engelbrecht, who have involved in the running of the Network on the Executive Committee since 2010 will soon be departing from the continent to broaden their career and learning opportunities in Thailand and San Diego. We have been extremely lucky to have their expertise in the positions of PR Officer and Logistics (Celia) and National Vice and National Convenor (Anzio). I would like to take this opportunity to thank both for some incredible work. Amongst their successes was assistance in running of a short course in LGBT studies, art for advocacy, regional lekgotlas, national lekgotlas and representation to HCWG, JWG and other fora.

The positions will be filled from the Auxiliary and existing Executive Committees as follows:

National Convenor – Tish White
National Vice Convenor – Thuli Mathabela
Logistics Manager – Matthew Moto
Secretary – Brendan Roche-Kelly
PR Officer – Kokeletso Legoete
Deputy PR Officer –Jan Malatjie

The above committee will operate with immediate effect until the April 2013 AGM (lekgotla), where a new committee will be elected.

We wish Anzio and Celia nothing but the very best in their futures and know that they will always be allies and friends to the Network. We thank them for the incredible work they have put into their roles, and anticipate their hard work in every future opportunity.

Tish White
Incoming National Convenor

Soweto Pride Invitation to participate and to Rent a Stall on 29 September 2012

Forum for the Empowerment on Women (FEW) is pleased to invite your organisation, individuals and businesses to take part in an important Soweto Pride annual event.

The theme for this year’s march is Enforcing Our Existence: Give Homophobia The Red Card and it will be held on September 29, 2012 departing from corner of Elias Motsoaledi and Mphuthi Street in White City Jabavu, starting at 10h00.

The day’s events will take place at Credo Mutwa Park.

if you are interested in Renting Stall to promote/ market and selling goods please inbox your contact details or email me at [email protected]

1st come 1st serve due to limitation of stalls.

Check out a very interesting research project:

HONOURS STUDY IN SOCIOLOGY ON LESBIAN IDENTITY
TITLE OF STUDY:
LESBIAN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AS INFLUENCED BY WESTERN TELEVISION SERIES
JANINE OOSTHUIZEN (BA Honours-student in Sociology, North-West University, Potchefstroom campus)


I am currently in the process of completing my Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. I received my Baccalaureus Artium in Psychology and Sociology in 2011.

As part of my degree, I am currently busy with a research project which focuses primarily on the possible influence of television shows such as Queer as Folk, The L Word and Glee on lesbian identity construction in South Africa. I am looking for lesbian individuals who are currently undergraduate or postgraduate students at any South African university who would be willing to participate in my research. Participation will include either an in-depth interview or the completion of a self-administered questionnaire, for those who wish to remain anonymous.

If you are acquainted with any of the noted television shows and would like to participate, please feel free to contact me.

My contact details:
[email protected]

FEW - Defending Women, Advancing Rights
Dear Friends, Comrades, Colleagues

In the past month we as the LGBTI community of South Africa have witnessed and experienced immense trauma and pain, due to the ongoing attacks killings against LGBTI persons. We say enough is enough. We met this past Friday and collectively decided to take action against hate-crimes and violence.

South Africa is increasingly shamed by the lack of response from key leaders in South Africa towards attacks against vulnerable persons, namely, LGBTI persons, refugees, migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers, women and children. WE have to put a stop to these homophobic and xenophobic attacks.

We call on you to join us on Mandela's Birthday, 18 July 2012, to give your 67 minutes to civic action against hate-crimes. Mandela gave his life for human rights and activism, and so should we. Mandela also gave his life for the vision of living in a free South Africa, he was a dedicated member of the ANC.

The ANC drafted the Freedom Charter and we fought against all forms of discrimination. Now we live in a democratic state with a progressive constitution, we have to uphold the ideals, that the "People's Power, Reign Supreme".

The ANC has failed us! the President of the ANC has been silent on violence, homophobia and xenophobia. The ANC has excluded sexual orientation from its gender policy and is silent on hate crimes and violence against LGBTI persons.

We are spending 67 minutes on Mandela's birthday, to protest against the silence of the ANC and demand action against hate crimes and violence.

Join us:

18 July 2012 Library Gardens, 11h00 - 13h00 in Johannesburg. We will hand over a memorandum to the ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe.

In addition we will hold a political and commemorative vigil at 6pm - 8pm, at the Women's Jail, Constitution Hill. Bring a blanket, a candle, flowers, anything you wish to bring to remember our fellow LGBTI friends and loved ones, killed over the past years.

For more information please contact
FEW : 011 4031907

In solidarity
Jabu

Press statement. For immediate release.

Kaleidoscope Youth Network and University of Johannesburg host successful Gauteng Regional Lekgotla

Written by Thuli Mathabela, Auxiliary National Vice Convenor                                                         11 July 2012

Kaleidoscope Youth Network held its second Regional Lekgotla at University Of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus from the 5th to the 8th of July. The member societies that were present included UJ Liberati (University of Johannesburg), Activate (Wits), Pillars of Consciousness (Central Johannesburg College), Flamboyant (Tshwane University of Technology), UP and OUT (University of Pretoria), POUT ( North West University) and OUT n Proud (NWU,Mafikeng Campus).The societies came together under the topic "History of LGBT and the Media".
 
The aim of the Regional Lekgotla is to get organisations within the regions acquainted with each other so that collaboration and solidarity may grow in the region. It was also implemented with the hope of transferring and sharing skillsets in campaign building and documenting hate crimes.
 
A UJ representative, Mr Godfrey Helani welcomed the Network and its youth leaders on the first day of the process. He emphasised the fact that South Africa has a challenge where people are discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. In his speech, he stated that "we are happy to have a national organisation that is willing and able to tackle these challenges. UJ pledges support because we understand the need for human rights; we promote the understanding of harmony and the fact that the LGBTIA community does not owe anybody an explanation as to why their sexual orientation is different"
 
Campaign Development was one of the focus of the Lekgotla and was facilitated by Anzio Jacobs, the National Convenor of the Network. Tish White, National Vice Convenor focused on Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, whereas Gabriel Khan from Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action facilitated outside exercises and educated the delegates on the history of LGBTIA and important individuals that surfaced the path for activism. Delegates were also taught how to report hate crimes to the Hate Crimes Working Group.
 
In addition to the campaigns developed by each society, the "It Gets Better Campaign" was recorded and the Network managed to compose an anthem that could possibly be sung at all Pride Marches.

The outcomes of the Regional Lekgotla will be seen through the extensive planning that went into campaign building, the implementation of a hate crimes documentation system and the bonds forged through team-building. It is the hope of the Network that in the immense challenges faced in the rise in hate crimes, and structures and services reinforced by heterosexism and patriarchy, that delegates will use their skills and regional networking bonds to overcome common challenges and strengthen the capacity of the sector.

PRESS STATEMENT – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

26 June 2012

The Kaleidoscope Youth Network hosts first Regional Lekgotla in Durban, in partnership with Durban University of Technology

Written by Tish White – National Vice Convenor

The Kaleidoscope Youth Network is a body of student solidarity organisations for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTIA) students in places of tertiary education across South Africa. The 17 member organisations include regions ranging from Fort Hare, Stellenbosch, Mafikeng and Bloemfontein to Pietermaritzburg.

The mission of the Kaleidoscope Youth Network is to promote health and wellness amongst youth, empower future leaders and eradicate hate crimes. The Network is run by two core teams – an auxiliary and executive team – which oversee operations across South Africa. The entire Network meets annually for a national AGM (known as a lekgotla), where policy, strategy and documentation is discussed, and training done. The Network has seen a growing need for capacity-building, networking and training at a regional level across South Africa, and has addressed this through the launch of the regional lekgotla project. In partnership with hosting universities, the executive and auxiliary team will travel across South Africa giving training and guidance specific to the organisations they visit.

There are two student organisations in KZN that cater for LGBTIA students – Shadows in the Rainbow (based at Durban University of Technology) and MOVE (UKZN, Pietermaritzburg), though the LGBTI NGOs in the KZN region, such as the Gay and Lesbian Network in PMB cater for youth issues too. Both MOVE and Shadows in the Rainbow are fairly new organisations that have very promising futures. Shadows in the Rainbow took up the call to host a regional lekgotla in 2012, in partnership with the institute at which they are based - Durban University of Technology. DUT will be hosting delegates from UKZN and DUT, as well as some members of the Kaleidoscope Youth Network management team. The group will follow an intensive programme which includes training in campaign building, networking strategies, partnership project work with regional LGBTIA initiatives and problem-solving strategising for any issues the two societies might face. The group will also be partaking in the Durban Pride 2012 march, and will be at a stall to answer any questions Pride-goers might have regarding the Network operations. It is the hope of the Network leadership that the KZN student societies will take the skills taught at this regional lekgotla and implement them in their work.

Should you have any queries about the lekgotla, please contact the Network

"8 WEEK TRANS SUPPORT GROUP (JOHANNESBURG) (AUG & SEP 2012)

You are not an isolated individual but part of a broader community with similar experiences. It is often easy to forget this when living under continually difficult social circumstances and the fear of discrimination.

Please join us for a short-term support group for trans-identified individuals. This group aims to provide a safe and mutually supportive environment for its members to share their personal struggles and triumphs.

Venue: Roosevelt Park Area, Johannesburg
Day: Wednesday evenings from 01 August 2012 until 19 September 2012
Time: 19h00 to 20h30
Duration: 8 consecutive weeks
Cost : R200 per session (partly reclaimable from medical aids)

Aim

This is a short-term supportive therapy group for M2Fs and F2Ms at various stages of their journey.

The group aims to provide a safe, confidential and mutually supportive space where members may share experiences that they are struggling with and would like to discuss in the group.

Benefits of group work

One of the powerful aspects of group work is that one may often see aspects of yourself in others. These are both aspects that you embrace and aspects of yourselves and your past that are difficult to accept.

By committing to a group process one has the potential to:
1) learn more about yourself and the way you interact with those around you,
2) learn through others’ struggles and triumphs,
3) receive fresh insights and feedback from the group around concerns that may be troubling you, and
4) the opportunity to provide support to others.

Group membership reminds one that you are not an isolated individual but part of a broader community.

About the facilitator

I am clinical psychologist in private practice in Parkhurst. I completed my Masters in Clinical Psychology at the University of the Western Cape (well-known for its liberal thinking) and my community service at Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital for patients with MDR and XDR tuberculosis. I see members of the LGBTI community in my practice and completed my honours research around transsexual identity at the University of Cape Town with the assistance of Gender Dynamix (Cape Town).

How do I join?

Contact me on 081 263 2217 if you would like to join this much-needed group. I will forward you an application form and arrange a mutually convenient time for us to get to know one another and assess whether groupwork is best suited to your needs. This consultation is charged at a fee of R200.

Places in the group are limited to 8 members so please do apply soonest.

This group is too far from home or you require a different time slot?

Please feel free to forward your details to me if you would like to attend a similar group at a different time or know that there is a need for this support group in your area."

For Immediate Release

 

 

Award-winning lineup at Out in Africa

 

The second installment of the 19th Out In Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival runs from 27 July-5 August in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Highlights include:

·         Documentaries on activists Funeka Soldaat and Judith Kotzé

Keep The Lights On, the 2012 Berlin Teddy Award winner for Best Feature, leads an impressive lineup for the second installment of the 19th Out in Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, running from 27 July-5 August in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Directed by former Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue), Keep The Lights On is a New York love story about a sex-addicted filmmaker and a cokehead literary lawyer. Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir called Keep The Lights On “an instant landmark in gay cinema and easily the finest dramatic film I saw at Sundance this year.”

In the multi-award-winning Cloudburst, Oscar-winners Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Tales of the City) and Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) star as an aging lesbian couple who take to the road when one is committed to a nursing home. Wickedly funny, these older Thelma-and-Louises are for everyone.

Three (Drei), directed by Tom Twyker, is another highlight. Twyker is one of the world’s most acclaimed directors, responsible for cult films like Run Lola Run, Perfume and The International. He’s already won seven international awards for Three, the deceptively simple story of a couple falling in love with the same man. Simon and his lover Hanna meet and have an affair with Adam separately, neither initially aware of the others infidelity. Unashamedly intellectual, 3 is for the thinking queer, tired of the coming out stories and the Hollywood pink of mainstream gay cinema.

 

Kaboom, directed by Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin), won the first ever Queer Palme at Cannes International Film Festival for its contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex issues. It’s a quirky, entirely bizarre dark comedy that’s part David Lynch, part Glee, and all about sex.

Director Rikkie Beadle-Blair will attend the festival for the screening of Bashment, which explores the aftermath of a brutal gay bash attack at a reggae dance hall competition in London.  He’s conducting filmmaking seminars at The Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.

This year’s South African programme includes two documentaries from the I Am Woman – Leap of Faith series: Funeka Soldaat, about the intersex activist who heads up the Free Gender movement, and Judith Kotzé, about the convener of the Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM).

These screen together with two great local short films: Daniel McCauley’s Letting Go and Corné Koegelenberg’s Welkom By Die Schoemans.

Other must-see films include Ausente (Absent), an Argentinian suspense thriller about an older straight man being oursued by one of his students. it won the 2011 Berlinale Teddy Award; The Skinny, about the loves and losses of a group of black men, and a lesbian, who reunite in the Big Apple, is from the director of the ever-popular Noah’s Arc TV series; and Stud Life, a new Brit film that intertwines the love stories of two best friends, a cool black butch and a sharp white twink boy.

 

Out In Africa screens at Nu Metro V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and Nu Metro Hyde Park in Johannesburg.

For the second year in a row, Out In Africa is running three mini-festivals in 2012, with the third edition scheduled for 17-28 October 2012.

Watch and embed the trailers from:

Keep The Lights On

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG4EaYPsbT8

 

3 (Drei)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5vCJDwgyGIHYPERLINK "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5vCJDwgyGI&fe"&HYPERLINK "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5vCJDwgyGI&fe"fe

Cloudburst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oATCC6QrTKo

Kaboom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu9NkMCElMk

 

Bashment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7JwtDL_RhY

 

Ausente (Absent)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU7KQ-OxPY4

The Skinny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtoE9FJErmk

Stud Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVygCAcbJbU

For more information, visit www.oia.co.za.

 

ABOUT OUT IN AFRICA




Out In Africa is made possible through support from Atlantic Philanthropies, the National Film and Video Foundation, The Times, Goethe Institut, British Council, 6 Spin Street, Graton Guest House, Rutland Lodge and Holdenmanz Wine Estate.  

 

JOY SAPIEKA

PUBLICIST

+27 (0) 73 212 5492

[email protected]

                                                 Youth Day – June 16 2012

Jan Malatjie
Auxillary PRO

 

Simon Nkoli, a human rights and gay activist once said “In South Africa I am oppressed because I am black man, and I am oppressed because I am gay. So when I fight for my freedom I must fight against both oppressions.” In the context of the great diversity within LGBTIA youth, this statement still applies well to the multiple struggles encountered.

The Kaleidoscope Youth Network is a national umbrella organization representing 17 LGBTIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual) students’ societies in universities across the Republic of South Africa.  Its membership has grown since its launch in 2007, with many young people taking on the fight to protect their rights as LGBTIA students.

In 1976 the youth of Soweto took to the street to protest against the apartheid government and fight for the human rights for all. Many lost their lives in the battle for the liberation of our country. June 16 commemorates those that dared to stand and fight against an unjust system so that we all could live in a democratic South Africa; we salute them and draw from the courage to continue the fight for liberty for all.

Thirty six years later in 2012, the youth of South Africa are still fighting for justice and to be protected from abuses. Thapelo Makhutle, a 24 year old gay activist from the Northern Cape was murdered because he lived openly as a gay man and Noxolo Nogwaza a lesbian who was killed in May 2011 is yet to receive justice.

Many LGBTIA youth still live in fear in their own communities, in the face of rapes and murders committed against lesbian women, gay men, transgender and intersex individuals. The fight is becoming increasingly intense and urgent. In May 2012, activists across South Africa called for the President to protect the rights of LGBTIA people by rejecting CONTRALESA’s proposal to redraft the Constitution. To remove the Constitutional protection of individuals from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would be to betray the incredible efforts of the individuals and organisations that ensured it got there in the first place.

Lethukuthula Blose the Chairperson of Shadows in the Rainbow, at Durban University of Technology in Kwa-Zulu Natal and Thuli Mathabela the Auxiliary National Vice Convener  of the Kaleidoscope Youth Network are amongst the LGBTIA young leaders that are advancing the struggle for human rightss.

“June the 16th means knowing that people fought for my rights and us as the youth are able to express who we are. It also means that I have the responsibility to preserve those rights and encourage other members of our youth to know what we stand for; the future of our country and to safeguard the rights that we've inherited,” Thuli Mathabela said.

There remain a lot to be done and and the struggle still continues to realize LGBTIA right in South African and the world. Lethukula Blose said that “we will eventually win the fight for equal rights all, for now the youth needs to affirm their stand whether LGBTIA or not.”

Aluta Continua

SA Trans people say no to radio celebrity at broadcast complaint tribunal!
 
We are not freaks, when is it ever ok to discuss people’s genitals on the radio?” said Adrienne Visser, a transgender women from Johannesburg. She was talking at a tribunal at the Broadcast Complaints Commission on 5 May 2012.
 
Her complaint was directed at Highveld stereo DJ Anele, who recently called transwoman Jenna Talackova (Ms Universe  pageant contestant),  an “it” and  mused about Jenna’s genitals on air.
 
 “….well good luck and balls to the wall to it”  Anele said as the insert went to a cheerful 94.7 Highveld stereo jingle.There was a large contingent of trans people to support complainant Adrienne Visser, including transgender activists and two representatives from human rights organisations devoted to transgender activism.
Ms Visser earnestly told her side of the story and defended Jenna Talackova’s gender identity. She highlighted the reality that research indicates high rates of homicide of transgender women due to stigma. She compared her own life to Jenna’s and reminded the Highveld stereo representative that she too was part of the Highveld stereo community. It was hurtful and alarming to be represented in such a manner. Millions of Highveld listeners heard the dehumanising comments regarding the Ms Universe contestant, which adds to the misinformation  and  ignorance surrounding this social reality.
 
Robert Hamblin,  artist and transgender activist from Cape Town, contextualised the discussion in the local South African milieu. He explained to the panel that the typical transgender person in South Africa is highly vulnerable. Due to a lack of access to health care, local trans people are highly visible and subject to targeting especially in socio economic challenged communities, which makes up the bulk of South African society.
 
 South African trans people often live in conditions of poverty becausetheir gender presentation is a challenge to society and they are thus excluded from opportunities to thrive.The BCCSA panel questioned Mr Hamblin's position that disenfranchised youth respond with violence to trans people in townships.
 
Craig Matu, transman and transgender activist from Soweto,who is a board member of transgender human rights organisation, Transgender Intersex Africa, confirmed that Anele's ignorant statement validates the perception that gender is
located in the genitals. He stated that this puts trans people at risk.  If a popular DJ jests about transgender people being searched to examine their genitals, it positions this as acceptable behaviour.
The message sent out is that transpeople lack human qualities, and that it is permissible to be violent towards them.
 
Prominent gender activist Sbu Keswa, who is the advocacy manager for Gender DynamiX, a transgender organisation in Cape Town, was visibly angry. He spoke of people in townships being killed for variant gender expression and called for an acknowledgement that hate crimes on LGBTI people were not necessarily about their sexual orientation, but about gender variant expression.The representative from Prime Media responded by stating that the radio station had approached Anele immediately upon receiving the BCCSA complaint.  Prime Media acknowledge that the statements were made in bad taste and are in conflict with the radio station’s values. The representative said that Anele has not yet publicly apologised because it is company policy to follow due legal process and abide by the recommendations of the BCCSA and the outcome of the tribunal.  The radio station denies that the comments amount to hate speech, and strongly disagreed with the arguments from the transgender activists on this point. Members on the panel of the commission reflected on other cases and enquired from the trans people present what outcome they would want from the tribunal. The panel were reluctant to label the statement as hate speech, as they were unsure that the utterances met the legal standard definition of incitement to violence. Transgender participants expressed that they wanted an apology and an opportunity for right of reply on Anele's show, in order to educate the public about real lives of trans people in South Africa, and destabilise mythology around this.
Transman Sbu Keswa stated that the apology from Prime Media should be broadcast to the public, and not limited to those present in the board room or those privy to the response document that Prime Media submitted to the commission.
 
The Prime Media representative assured the BCC that there was a possibility that this could happen and said that she would propose this to the radio station.
 
The BCC chairman engaged earnestly with the topic, and agreed that the processes of the BCCSA are transparent and they will release judgment that takes all positions into account. He went as far as to make jokes about the term 'it', and was very responsive to the concerns of the trans activists present.
 
For more information please contact Adrienne Visser at [email protected]