Cape Town Pride snaked through the city streets with bursts of colour, flamboyance and music as thousands of revellers marched and danced.
|||Cape Town - Cape Town Pride snaked through the city streets with bursts of colour, flamboyance and music as thousands of revellers marched and danced.
There was a healthy dose of protest action to raise awareness to challenges and prejudice facing LGBTI people.
The parade started at Gallows Hill at noon to popular club athems like Rihanna’s Don’t Stop the Music and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way blaring from loudspeakers.
It continued into the city, before marchers doubled back down Main Road to end near Cape Town Stadium.
This year marked the 15th annual parade.
Kyle Cass and Michaela Wilson, holding a sign that read “Love is too beautiful to be hidden in the closet,” said they were enjoying their second parade.
“At the end of the day it is all about respecting other people’s beliefs,” said Cass.
But while the message of tolerance long associated with Pride was strong, it appears some LGBTI people were not convinced the organisation practised what it preached.
The parade was briefly interrupted by a group of protesters who blocked the route, arguing Pride was not inclusive, resulting in a brief standoff and isolated scuffles.
The incident occurred on Main Road, Green Point near the traffic department and lasted roughly five minutes before traffic police intervened. Earlier in the day, Zethu Matebeni of the group Alternative Inclusive Pride, had argued the parade was still too white and male.
“We are not here to just party,” she said in front of a banner that read: “Brave Enough to Exclude us?”
“We are here to say that, when we leave and walk around our spaces… we are not here to be murdered and raped.”
The accusations have been disputed by Cape Town Pride’s director Matthew van As, who told Weekend Argus before the event that it was open to everyone.
“We hold workshops and a pre-pride party in various areas for free. We give free entrance and transport to people that can’t pay.”
jan.cronje@inl.co.za
Weekend Argus