have you done this yet?

May 9, 2011
Call, fax and/or email the South African Government and demand that they openly speak out and take action against the increasing violence towards LGBT people in South Africa. The contacts of the officials to contact are below;

His Excellency Jacob Zuma

President of the Republic of South Africa

Tel: +27 12 300 5200

Fax: +27 12 323 8246

Email:delsey@po.gov.za

His Excellency Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe

Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa

Tel: +27 12 300 0501/+27 21 464 2128

Fax: +27 12 323 3114

Email:malebo@po.gov.za

Mr. Jeffrey Thamsanqa Radebe

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development

Tel: +27 12 357 8212/8217

Fax: +27 12 315 1749

Email:minprivatesec@justice.gov.za

Mr. Nathi Mthethwa

Minister of Police

Tel: +27 12 393 2810/2811

Fax: +27 12 939 2812

Gen. Bheki Cele

National Commissioner of Police

Tel: +27 12 393 2874

Fax: +27 12 393 1530

Email:mbathan@saps.gov.za

 

Lesbian Potluck for the Soul

March 29, 2011

So I hit middle age and the experience left me feeling no less queer and no less passionate about queer rights. Human rights.

I think more about society, perhaps because I understand it better these days – or perhaps simply because I give less of a damn about being accepted by it. Ever idealistic, I wish everyone on the fringes of society would actually stand together and form another one. Not a replacement society, just a cooler, more alternative, less gold digging and cr...


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ButchLab Butch Symposium 2: Butch Stereotypes, Cliches & Misconceptions

March 7, 2011
Symposium #2, March 2011: Butch Stereotypes, Cliches, and Misconceptions: What do people think “butch” means? What are the stereotypes around being butch? What do people assume is true about you [or the masculine of center folks in your life], but actually isn’t? What image or concept do you constantly have to correct or fight against? How do you feel about these misconceptions? How do you deal with them? Do you respond to these stereotypes or cliches? How?

I missed the 2 March dea...

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dear queer, i love you ...

March 3, 2011

because illogical societal stigmas make families forget sometimes, that they love their children and parents and siblings and so on, we queers generally fear coming out, with a dread a lot of people don’t seem to appreciate. in fact, before the terror, it’s society that has caused the fact that we need to come out at all.

we shouldn’t have to.

but we do – or we lurk, fearful in closets not of our own construction.

i was very, extremely (a lot!) touched by a letter roxy wrot...


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How do you solve a problem like sex & gender?

March 3, 2011

“the milk and sugar are over there sir,” says the woman in the coffee shop.
“can you pull your car forward please mama?” says the guy at the petrol station.

(“mama” isn’t just saying that my gender’s been read as female, it’s also saying i’m old enough to be a mother)

those two interactions took place within minutes of each other and i responded the same to both i.e. i didn’t contribute anything gender-related at all. there were times in my twenties, when if a guy ...


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Butch Symposium the first ...

March 3, 2011
Call for submissions for bloggers & writers: The first Symposium (Sinclair Sexsmith)
I am planning to launch the new project’s monthly Symposium with the site’s launch on November 15th, and I need your help. I’m looking for writers who have something to say about butch identity, who are wiling to post their thoughts on their own blog (or email them in, if they don’t have a blog) and link back to the Symposium in exchange for the promotion within this project. Here’s the to...

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Ellen and Kate - Dyke Ambassadors

January 17, 2010
I've decided to stop being quite such a gloomy sod and count some blessings for a change.  Good things I've thought of recently as far as the dyke community goes, are Ellen Degeneres' seemingly never-ending and meteoric rise to fame – her own talk show, judge on American Idols, Cover Girl contract – and this is the woman who got married to a woman in a dress, while wearing a suit.  Then there's Kate Clinton.  OK she's not overly well-known in South Africa, but in 2006 she celebrated her 2...

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New Queer Day

January 1, 2010


2010 has just emerged, foetus-like from the bloody hips of 2009 and surely South Africa is thinking about things beyond soccer?  And us queers, where are we? 

Well, I'm guessing most of us are still in closets.  Iconic lesbian website After Ellen's round up of lesbians who came out in 2009 includes a whole one South African i.e. Melanie Lowe.  Whether or not you like her music, if you're one of those fabled and privileged queers with plenty of disposable income, please go buy at least one of ...

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Have yourself a lesbo little xmas ...

December 18, 2009


“Madonna, Lover, and Son” by Becki Jayne Harrelson, 1996. Oil on canvas, 80 x 68 inches. www.beckijayne.com

So, besides yelling, "Ho, ho, ho!" at your exes, what are you doing to dyke the halls and have yourself a lesbo little Christmas?  If you're lucky, you have some form of well-adjusted family and can integrate into the general Christmas spirit without feeling the need to make it too queer - it's not always that way though, is it?  For some, Christmas ends up being one of those times w...

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Stalking Robert Hamblin

October 28, 2009
For the first and possibly last time in my life, I bought a copy of Rooi Rose (for any non South African readers, it’s an Afrikaans women’s magazine and although it’s come a long way since apartheid days, it’s still one of those magazines that one thinks of as safely mainstream i.e. hardly relevant to me, as part of the LGBTQI spectrum).  I bought it for the story about Robert Hamblin, the artist formerly known as Adele Hamblin; photographer extraordinaire.

Robert’s physical transiti...

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All over the internet ... like Marmite.  Only tastier.

iDyke


Weekly columnist for Q back when it was owned by the Mail & Guardian, regular columnist for Queerlife in 2008, as well as contributing to MambaGirl, Cherrygrrl, Gayspeak and other websites, I decided it was about time I collected it all in one place, so I can see what I've done and hopefully keep doing new stuff.
Somewhere along the way, I got a severe case of the Tumblrs ...
::badly drawn dykes webcomic::
::vintage butch photos::

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