Posted by ulla on Monday, May 9, 2011,
In :
queer
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 3... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Tuesday, March 29, 2011,
In :
queer
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Monday, March 7, 2011,
In :
stereotypes
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Thursday, March 3, 2011,
In :
queer
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Thursday, March 3, 2011,
In :
queer
“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 ...
Posted by ulla on Thursday, March 3, 2011,
In :
dykestyle
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...
Posted by ulla on Wednesday, October 28, 2009,
In :
queer
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... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Sunday, October 25, 2009,
In :
stereotypes
 Both in and out of the lesbian community, butch lesbians take the most flak. We're the most easily identified of the species and so right from the get go, we're on the firing line. We are also constantly accused of "wanting to be men." Now that's complete nonsense right from the start, because a woman who wants to be a man is called transgendered and within that, may be any sexuality on the spectrum. If you're going to insist upon adhering to society's expectations and definitions, then y... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Sunday, October 18, 2009,
In :
queer
 There are people in my life and on the periphery of it, who will never ever truly accept me, because I am queer. Sure, some people have altered their thinking enough to embrace me without saying, "If only ..." but at least one close family member, some friends and a whole bunch more acquaintances do their best not to be homophobic, but are nonetheless. It's probably painful on both sides and I have grown past that youthful fervour that is convinced that some form of universal justice will p...
Posted by ulla on Monday, September 14, 2009,
In :
stereotypes
Yet another idiotic headline by South Africa's Daily Sun newspaper - and since their idiotic website is under idiotic construction, I couldn't find out anything about the story. And nope, I couldn't buy the newspaper, it was late on Sunday, driving through a rural bit of the Eastern Cape.
Given my country's history of apartheid and that old madam and maid concept, I would, in fact, be interested to know the story - but not from a snotrag tabloid's point of view. I also question the word us...
Posted by ulla on Friday, September 11, 2009,
In :
queer
Driving through the city the other day, one of the newspaper headline posters yelled, "TV'S GAY KISS!" from the side of the road. My rantometer just blew up instantly. It's not as if it was the first such headline, it certainly won't be the last. Every time there's a gay kiss on TV (here and in the UK, at least), the media has a field day.
Why?
Gay marriage is legal now. And surely it isn't news that queers kiss? Well obviously it is. For all the irritating heterosexuals who go around pon... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Wednesday, June 3, 2009,
In :
queer
I love photographing drag kings and queens - my only complaint is that there aren't nearly enough drag kings in South Africa. If I had the (ho ho) bollocks to perform, I'd start doing it myself. Anyway, while photographing a gay beauty pageant and cabaret in East London the other night, I thought about the last time I photographed lots of drag queens - which was Johannesburg Pride 2008. It gave me a lot of great photographs and some new Facebook friends ... there was one particularly nasty... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Wednesday, May 27, 2009,
In :
stereotypes
 I am starting to conform to stereotype - the one where lesbians stay friends with their exes. It's not even all that long since I wrote a rant against that very thing and I guess I have to blame stuff for this turnaround. So here goes.
I have exes who are really good people, who, despite having survived the horror or relationships with me, are compassionate enough to want to be friends. Somewhere along the way I guess I also pulled my head out of my ass long enough to see them for the good ... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Monday, April 6, 2009,
In :
queer
 Arcadia is an industrial suburb of East London, in the Eastern Cape - a "city" which is pretty much ignored by the world and certainly by the gay media, because it's little and rather faded around the edges and entirely lacking in glamour. All of those things are also what make it an incredibly cool place to be.
If you came to visit, I'd take you to Club Eden; down a dark back street (that euphemism may even appeal to some) and only very gently signposted and through the bars of its security ...
Posted by ulla on Friday, March 6, 2009,
In :
queer
But why do gay people have to go on about it so much?
People say that so rationally, so calmly that it almost seems reasonable to me too. And then I think. I think about pink triangles and black ones in concentration camps and Michael Causer and Matthew Shepherd and the two murdered Soweto lesbians and all the victims we'll never even hear about. That's why – that's it. The rest of us cannot shut up until those people are safe, until kids aren't getting bullied for it in schools, until l... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Monday, March 2, 2009,
In :
queer
I’d been ignoring Facebook, because it’s bloated and buggy and doesn’t generate income – I hadn’t even bothered to go and turn email notifications off again after it decided to restore them all to my account without my consent. Emails would arrive, I’d delete them unless they were really interesting. Six friend requests came in and I ignored those too, because I assumed they were more of you lot i.e. groupies. I jest, I jest! To cut a tedious story short, when I got a message ... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Saturday, February 28, 2009,
In :
elderdyke
(orig. published by QueerLife)
Years ago, when I wrote another column for another website, I used to
bleat often, “Where are the elderdykes?” At that stage I was about 30
and didn’t know any lesbians much over 45. All my whining got two
responses and I had a drink with a really cool fifty something in Cape
Town, and got lectured by a lovely sixty something in KZN, about the
responsibility of us young dykes towards their elders. Well, I couldn’t
agree more. In fact, I think we all have... Continue reading ...
Posted by ulla on Monday, February 23, 2009,
In :
g33kdykes
When cellphones hit the country, the streets were littered with dykes with 5110's clipped to their belts in little black pouches. Dykes (and I am generalising wildly) like gadgets. Dykes usually know how to connect things and quite often fix things too. Some dykes like power tools, some (like me) are absolute whores for any new, sleek hi-tech toy on the market. And I'll say it now, because I know you're waiting for it, that means sex toys too. A quick look at any good woman's sex toy website ... Continue reading ...
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All over the internet ... like Marmite. Only tastier.
iDyke
| Ulla Kelly |
| Eastern Cape, South Africa |
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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.
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