Molly's insights regarding her first Pride Parade

This past weekend, I did something that I never imagined I would do in a million years: I cheered on a gay pride parade protest.

I’ve never been to a pride parade in the United States because they always seemed too far a drive for just a day and a parade, but I’ve always imagined that I would attend when I eventually live in a big enough city. Now that I’m in a big enough city, I didn’t feel like I had any reason not to go - it would be a chance to learn more about LGBTI issues in South Africa, meet new people, and have a good time in Cape Town.

Although I’ve never been to pride in the U.S., I’ve seen pictures and videos and I’m always a little bit taken aback by the flamboyance and by the lack of clothing worn by those parade-goers who get the most media attention. At the same time, I’ve always been wary of criticizing gay male culture for its quirks; fashion and bodies are both very political subjects in the LGBTI community, so why shouldn’t they have a chance to be magnified and celebrated?

I assumed that Cape Town would be a bit quieter and less colorful, simply because of the conversations that I’ve had and heard about with social justice advocates in South Africa. Although their human rights are recognized by the government, LGBTI people are still looked down upon, and many lesbians and trans men are victims of “corrective rape,” which is exactly what it sounds like: a rape that occurs with the goal of “correcting” an individual’s gender performance or sexual preferences.

While I criticize South African attitudes towards LGBTI individuals, I should also point out that over twenty trans women were killed in the United States in 2015 alone, and this didn’t seem to put a noticeable damper on any U.S. pride events. The official pride event here in Cape Town this past weekend was actually very colorful and flamboyant. There were plenty of individuals dressed like Las Vegas showgirls and plenty of dancers wearing even less. More interesting than the actual parade, however, was the parade’s protest. I generally assume that pride parade protestors are mostly old, conservative fundamentalists, but these protestors were different. They were LGBTI people of color from the Alternative Inclusive Pride Network who felt that Cape Town Pride was exclusive and that it was abusing an opportunity to bring attention to issues like corrective rape and other forms of sexual assault, as well as job discrimination. They argued that those who had official floats in the parade were disproportionately white, gay cis-men, and therefore anyone who is not a white, gay cis-man is underrepresented. To the blind eye, the “diverse mix” of races within Cape Town Pride was about the same as what would be considered a “diverse mix” in Boston. Obviously, black and coloured people should take up larger numbers of Cape Town Pride in order for the representation to be accurate.

It was interesting to see all of the very valid objections to Cape Town Pride, and I’m hoping that when I go back to the United States, I won’t be afraid to be more critical of the LGBTI misrepresentation that occurs there, as well.