JOBURG PREPARES TO CELEBRATE PRIDE

The city of Johannesburg is preparing to celebrate its vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community with the 20th annual Joburg Pride Day, presented by 94.7 Highveld Stereo, taking place this Saturday 3rd October at Zoo Lake Sports Club from 9am.

The organisers of Joburg Pride have called on all LGBTI people and their friends, families and supporters to attend the 2009 Pride Day to ensure that our community is loudly heard amidst the growing chorus of voices threatening to diminish the equality that we have secured since 1994.

THE PRIDE PARADE

The 2009 Pride Parade, featuring a host of colourful floats and thousands of revellers, will kick off from Zoo Lake Sports Club at 11 am through the streets of Rosebank. The procession will be led by the Grand Marshal of the Parade, none other than 94.7 Highveld Stereo’s Jeremy Mansfield.

Refreshment points for marchers and their dogs, sponsored by Powerade and Royal Canin, will be provided along the route. No alcohol is permitted to be consumed in the Parade and participants are reminded to wear sunscreen and a hat or cap.

PRIDE DAY

Marchers return back to Zoo Lake Sports Club at around 12.30 pm for the rest of the Pride Day festivities until 5pm. Besides the entertainment - featuring various performers, DJs (including 94.7 Highveld Stereo personalities) and drag shows - there will also be Pride stalls (with all sorts of goodies on display and on sale), bars, food and a kiddies’ play area.

The ‘Clubhouse’ area - limited to 200 people at R50 each - will be on offer. This will include: a full cash bar; menu to order food; private toilets; and a fantastic view of the venue. Contact Natasha at natasha@joburgpride.org or on 076 454 2076 to reserve your tickets. The gates at Zoo Lake Sports Club open at 9am. Entrance is free!

THE COMMUNITY VILLAGE

A ‘Community Village’ at Zoo Lake Sports Club will house representatives from a number of gay community organisations and will highlight the 20 anniversary of Joburg Pride in line with this year's theme of "You Need Pride". OUT (LGBT Wellbeing) will provide free voluntary HIV testing and counselling including risk reduction counselling for those who have a need to address substance use. An interactive retrospective exhibition - in partnership with GALA - will raise awareness and promote political consciousness among the LGBTI community, especially the youth. There will also be a women's only space in the Village.

For more information about Joburg Pride 2009 visit www.joburgpride.org.

TOWNSHIP TRANSPORT

Bus transport will be provided to and from a number of townships on Saturday 3rd October to ensure access to Pride by under-resourced LGBT people and to promote broad representation and participation by the full spectrum of the LGBT community. Three buses will depart, respectively, from Soweto (Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital), Kwa-Thema (Kwa-Thema Community Hall) and Vosloorus (Vosloorus Gold Spot) at 8am on the morning of Pride Day and will return passengers in the evening.

MESSAGES OF SUPPORT

In keeping with this year’s theme of “You Need Pride”, Joburg Pride has received a number of messages of support:

Martina Navratilova: Legendary openly-lesbian sports icon
“Pride is a fantastic opportunity for everyone, especially the youth, to come out and publicly celebrate who they are. It can be a truly life-changing experience. It certainly was for me. By taking part in Joburg Pride you not only stand up for your sisters and brothers across the continent and the world, but you also affirm your own dignity and humanity. Be proud Joburg!”

Jeremy Mansfield: 94.7 Highveld Stereo DJ and Pride Parade Grand Marshal
"It’s such an honour to be part of this year’s Joburg Pride. I can’t wait to get into those chaps, and by that I mean leather chaps, not the people. I am looking forward to cutting the ribbon and starting the parade. It’s also a great theme – You Need Pride. We’re all proudly South African, proud of Joburg and proud of how far we’ve all come.”

Busi Kheswa: Director - Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW)
"‘You need Pride’ for as long as LGBTI people do not enjoy the rights that are promised by our Constitution. As LGBTI people we still suffer hate crimes and the justice system still fails us. Young LGBTI people are still forced out of schools and as a result there is a high dropout rate. You need Pride for as long as LGBTI people are said to be un-African. And You need Pride to forge a sense of belonging amongst LGBTI people."

For more information about Joburg Pride 2009 visit www.joburgpride.org.

YOU NEED PRIDE

Joburg Pride is an annual celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Gauteng. The 1990 Joburg Pride March was the first lesbian and gay pride parade to take place on the African continent. It was organised by the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) headed by the late legendary gay rights and anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli. Many of the participants wore brown paper bags over their heads out of fear for their safety. The event has taken place every year since then, making the 2009 Joburg Gay Pride Festival the 20th annual Pride event in the city. Today, Joburg Pride is organised by a Section 21 company run primarily by a board of volunteers. 2009 is also the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City, which saw members of the city’s LGBT community stand up against official repression for the first time; for many representing the birth of the LGBT equality movement.