KZN LGBT Recreation leads Durban church aerobics marathon... and prays for and end to homophobic crime

On 14 July 2012, the Apostles Church in Durban organized an aerobics marathon at the Durban Ice Rink. Among those taking part were members of FGG member organization KZN LGBT Recreation. Petros Duma, deputy chair of KZN LGBT Recreation, works closely with the pastor of the church for the church's sports program. As an experience aerobics instructor, he was in charge of the whole marathon event

Petros took this opportunity to lead the attendees in prayer for an end to the homophobic murders and violence afflicting South Africa. As the motto of KZN LGBT Recreation say: "Education through Sports = Unity".

We take this opportunity to ask you to sing Allout's petition against corrective rape HERE.

KZN LGBT Recreation races in the morning, protests in the afternoon

A report from Hlengiwe Buthelezi of FGG member organization KZN LGBT recreation:

This was a fun and eventful weekend for KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation. We began by participating in the East Coast Radio Big Walk. There were 38 members registered, but due to a public transport strike, only a few managed to get to the start. The race went very well for those who participated, with four members earning the certificates for the organisation for finishing within the cut-off time. After the race we had a chat about the group attending the Gay Games, and in particular how to get more women involved.

In the afternoon we attended the march protesting against the proposed homophobic Constitution amendment under discussion in South Africa. The event was organised by KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation together with other LGBT organisations inDurban. The House of Traditional Leaders (CONTRALESA (Congress of Traditional Leaders in South Africa) has made a proposal to the Parliament to amend the country's Constitution and take away gay rights, because according to them homosexuality is "un-African".

We stood outside the City Hall with our placards to make our voice heard. Here too the public transport strike took its toll, and we had fewer participants than we expected. Nonethless, we consider the event a success, because we did get a good deal of media coverage.

20 May 2012 / KZN LGBT Recreation participating in Durban walk/run race

FGG member KZN LGBT Recreation will once again participate in the Big Walk on 20 May.
The event includes 5km, 10km, 15km & 20km

Entry closes on 30 April!!

30 March 2012 / KZN LGBT Recreation picnic

The Human Rights Day Picnic
KZN LGBT RECREATION
Saturday, March 31, 2012
11:00am until 2:00pm
The Picnic will take place at Victoria Park, North Beach (Opp Shoprite) The After Party - Umnini Camp @ Umgababa


KZN LGBTI Recreation is a predominately sports and recreational organisation with a focus on addressing inequalities and discrimination of gay and lesbian athletes and sports-persons in all codes of sports. Shadows in the Rainbow’s main objectives include addressing issues of culture, socio-economic and historic factors’ contributing towards homophobia, the lack of black gay role models which could be as a result of misrepresentation in media.

We will be celebrating and commemorating Human Rights Day and utilising this historic day as means to communicate our vision and mission; address gay and lesbian rights as their primary agenda; Human Rights are a worldly and diverse topic and as a young democracy we still need to address the inequalities that exist.

Federation of Gay Games welcomes two new member organizations: KZN LGBT Recreation (Durban) and CDG Brasil

The FGG is delighted to welcome new member organizations KwaZulu-Natal LGBT Recreation and CDG Brasil.

KZN LGBT Recreation is a group bringing together LGBT athletes and friends in Durban, South Africa. Beyond participation in sports events, they carry out support efforts and information sessions on HIV and other health issues. The organization's projects have been supported by FGG member organizations International Front Runners and Team DC, in a great example of partnerships to encourage sport development.

CDG Brasil is the national LGBT sports federation of Brazil, and is organizing the very first National Diversity Games this November.

Hlengiwe Buthelezi flies the colors of the FGG at New Orleans conference

TOGS delegate to the FGG Hlengiwe Buthelezi from Durban, South Africa participated last month at the 2012 National African-American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS held in New Orleans. Hlengiwe's club in Durban, KZN LGBT Recreation, engages in ongoing HIV/AIDS education and prevention actions for men and women, and while in New Orleans she was able to exchange with leaders from around the USA and from other countries on the need for a strong engagement to fight against AIDS in communities with particular needs.

While at the conference, Hlengiwe wore with pride her FGG clothing, and spoke of the Gay Games and the role of LGBT sport with other participants in the conference. Thanks to Hlengiwe!

Hlengiwe with a delegate from Cleveland

KZN LGBT Recreation World AIDS Day event

We thank Hlengiwe Buthelezi for this report on an action organized by KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation in Durban for World AIDS Day, held on Saturday 3 December:

December being declared as an HIV/AIDS month and 1st December as an World AIDS Day,KwaZulu Natal Recreation wanted to reach out to the community and do an HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign event, including testing, as part of our education and outreach program. The response was overwhelming!

This time around we purposely chose a tavern as a venue simply because we wanted to send a message that alcohol can lead to misconduct and neglegance, unprotected sex and multi-partnerships, all of which are risk factors for HIV/AIDS infection.

A mobile HIV testing and counseling unit made up of a 4-person clinic crew came from the Espanini Help Centre were on hand to perform pre-counseling, testing and post counseling.

The community came out in numbers and about 80 people were tested on the day.

To motivate the crowd AIDS activists Zandile Gumede, age 35, and Musa Dlamini, age 33, came with their support group and spoke to the community to share with them what it's like to live with the virus and how to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

Zandile Gumede has been living with HIV for the past 17 years and is still going strong. A married woman and a mother of 2 who lost her husband to HIV/AIDS-related diseases, Musa Dlamini is an unmarried father of 1 who has been living with HIV for 12 years. Lulama Dube, the local social worker from the Department of Health, brought her crew of volunteers, all young and energetic, who were very helpful in setting up. KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation requested the presence of Lulama because she is a veteran who lives in the area and knows just about everyone. Her remarkable work is well known by the locals. She was very influencial in this community and works wit many different LGBTI groups.


The day started very well, although people had trouble arriving on time due to heavy rain. Immediately after the rain had stopped we started with a programme of the day.

More on KZN LGBT Recreation picnic

We are pleased to share this follow-up from participants at the picnic we reported on yesterday:

It was important to ensure that the police were aware of our presence and that they would be ready to protect us in case of any trouble. We had our permit, and we checked with Lieutenant Naidoo to make sure all would be OK.

What was most interesting in so far as I am concerned was to have as our special guest a parent of a gay child. Anna is a 40 year mother of 2 – a daughter (Nomfundo age 24, and a son age 17). She posed some very important and relevant questions. She said her main aim of attending our event was to establish a better relationship with her lesbian daughter because even though she already tries to be non-judgmental towards her, she wanted to go an extra mile to bring about mutual understanding between each other. She also wanted to find a safe environment for Nomfundo because in the township where they reside, homophobia is very rife. She noticed on several occasion her daughter escape what hate crimes. As a parent, she too receives abuse from the community and her extended family due to Nomfundo’s sexual orientation. The positive outcome out of this we planned a Mothers' Day gathering on 8th May where Anna will be addressing other mothers in a similar situation.

We were happy to have people from KZN LGBT Recreation present, and they lead us in a session of indigenous sports, followed by brain-teaser exercises. That put us in the right condition for the main point of our picnic, to talk about our situation and future actions to improve it.

An interesting point came when Nosipho and Snenhlanhla Mbambo, a lesbian couple, spoke of their relationship. Nosipho’s children are not approve of her partner merely because she is a woman, and call her derogatory names. There have been serious fights, with the police having to be called. Nosipho's son was kicking and threatening Snenhlanhla with a knife. Nosipho is in the middle of this fight because she loves her kids and she loves her partner. They currently live apart for the sake of the kids, but are still very much in love. This is very traumatizing for them, especially for Nosipho, whose entire family is opposed to this relationship, with the exception of her mother. This story is important, and we hope to use it in a documentary to share with others the pressures on gay couples.

KZN LGBT Recreation reports on Human Rights Day picnic

We thank Hlengiwe Buthelezi for this report on a recent activity of our friends at KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation, a picnic held in Durban, South Africa on Human Rights Day in conjunction with "Shadows in the Rainbow":


"Shadows in the Rainbow" Gay and Lesbian Project is of the view that human rights violations in South Africa and throughout Africa result from the continent's economic oppression and poverty, together with a traditional patriarchal culture. The vulnerability of women, children, and people of sexual minorities makes them susceptible to the ventilation of stress from the straight male black majority who face poverty and an inferiority complex.

Thus to address the problem of human rights violations regarding freedom of self expression and sexual orientation, gay activists must not neglect the economic oppression, patriarchy, and traditions of African cultures, from which we believe the problem emanates: this must be our point of departure.

Our Vision:

"Shadows in the Rainbow" Gay and Lesbian Project wants to be at the forefront of African gay struggles. As South African gay activists, "Shadows in the Rainbow" wants to eradicate homophobia and heterosexism through interventions and projects, primarily in areas where there is poor LGBTQ representation. "Shadows in the Rainbow" wants to unite the African LGBTQ community of all races, reducing the tensions found within the community. We want to locate gay activism in the context of the larger African people’s struggle, without excluding the agency and input of the overall LGBTQ community.

The Picnic:
The picnic was the first event of the joint venture between KZN LGBT Recreation and "Shadows In the Rainbow". It could not have come at a better time, when Africa is seeing the worst ever homophobic attacks, of which many remain unaware. This picnic saw the coming together of parents of gay children, friends, lovers, and activists to find our place as gay people within Africa. Grassroot problems of coming-out, right through to cultural issues were discussed in depth, and from these discussions future actions were identified, including documentaries and films to educate the general public about gay culture, and group coming- out campaigns. It was a memorable event indeed and milestone into creating dialogue amongst LGBTQI people.

First photos from Durban conference

The 7th World Conference on Sport, Education and Culture, organized by the International Olympic Committee and UNESCO, took place earlier this week.

The Federation of Gay Games was represented by Hlengiwe Buthelezi, delegate of FGG member organization TOGS, and FGG Ambassador Leigh-Ann Naidoo.

Also attending the conference was Friend of the Gay Games Jochen Farber, representing the Munich 2018 Olympic bid committee.

Hlengiwe and Leigh-Ann

Jochen and Hlengiwe (r)

LEXIT becomes KZN LGBT Recreation

Hlengiwe Buthelezi, Federation of Gay Games delegate from member TOGS, 2009 FGG Volunteer of the Year, writes about a recent event in the Durban area.

We presented an aerobics marathon at the Virgin Active gym. Weather conditions changed our initial plans: we had originally planned to offer an aerobics marathon, a fashion show, music and Pansula dance, and a soccer fun match. But due to heavy rain, Petros Duma, chair of the event, negotiated with Virgin Active, where he works as an aerobics instructor, so that our event could proceed despite the rainfall.

The event went perfectly well, although cutting back on the programme decreased the number of participants. Those who came were all very excited. I was even more excited about the reception of Gay Games news from those attending, as I had absolutely no negative response from the straight people present. Instead, they all had very relevant questions for me. I have always had the impression that the general public in South Africa was rather homophobic, so this was a most pleasant surprise.

Everyone, including straight people, was interested to learn more about the Gay Games and they all took pamphlets to utilize the information. Even long after the event I still get enquiries from people who did not even attend the event.

34 runners in SPAR road race in Durban!

A message from organizer and TOGS delegate to the FGG Hlengiwe Buthelezi, following the July 26 SPAR ladies 5k/10k in Durban. Registration was made possible thanks to donations coordinated by Kate Rowe from International Front Runners and various individual FGG board members.

I am very happy. All participants send their enormous gratitude to all the people who put their efforts in making that day as brilliantly happy as it was. What an awesome/fun day we had! What raises my joy even more is the fact that some of these women who entered this race for the first time are already asking me when is the next one. Mind you these are not even runners nor sport fanatics........

Below are highlights

I had a turnout of 67 people on the day (lesbians & gays). But only 34 of us took part in the race.

We discussed:

* The regular participation in sports, including the Gay Games

* The need for us to fundraise = We need guidance in this regard

* The need to have a sport body that caters for LGBT athletes to accommodate everyone

* Acquiring sustainable sporting environment,etc, etc..........

The sports we participate in are:

Athletics

Soccer

Netball (Gays)

Volley Ball

Rugby

We are always grateful.

Hlengs

International FrontRunners support Durban runners

Thanks to IFR who have made a substantial contribution toward the registration fees of the LEXIS runners organized by Hlengiwe Buthelezi! Along with contributions organized by the FGG, the 40 runners will be able to compete. More later!

40 runners to compete in Gay Games warm-up in Durban

FGG delegate from TOGS Hlengiwe Buthelezi leads a group called LEXIT which is organizing the participation of 40 women in the SPAR ladies 10k road race in Durban, South Africa on July 26.

The women participating hope to compete in a variety of sports at Gay Games VIII, and are using this race as a team-building event that will raise visibility for their goal to come to Cologne.

Thanks to a few generous donors, the registration fees for all runners have been paid. Hlengiwe has just sent this message:

"On behalf of LEXIT and myself we would like to thank the FGG very much for funding the Spar Ladies entry fees. All the girls are very much excited about this race. I will keep you posted on things as we go along. Thank you a million times!"

It will take a good deal more to bring all these young women to Cologne. Your help is greatly appreciated! Please support the FGG scholarship program!

Click Here.