How Cape Town's "Gayle" has endured -- and been adopted by straight people

Contents:

• THE 12 PICS OF SEXY, GAY MEN FROM CAPE TOWN REVEAL A CY STILL HEALG FROM ITS RACIST PAST
• GAY MAN SA
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• LIST OF SOUTH AIN GAY ACTORS – PICTUR
• ONLY LADS : EE GAY DATG & GAY CHAT SOCIAL WORK
• GAY SOUTH AI
• GAY MAN FOUND AD ON HIS 22ND BIRTHDAY IS SOUTH AI’S 4TH LGBTQ PERSON KILLED A MONTH; SPECT, 17, ARRTED

THE 12 PICS OF SEXY, GAY MEN FROM CAPE TOWN REVEAL A CY STILL HEALG FROM ITS RACIST PAST

But fewer people know Cape Town, South Ai, as a bean of gay life for men livg across Ai. One black mol claimed to regularly get dirty looks and nasty unr-the-breath ments om secury guards and ctomers the predomantly whe gayborhood of Green Pot.

GAY MAN SA

He also says that Cape Town is the gayt and saft cy for LGBTQ Ains, wh wispread LGBTQ rights, same-sex marriage and a society that’s much more open than one would expect, all of which pel queer Ains om across the untry to move there. “I thk ’s important to show real black men as they are, stctg the rampant stereotyp that are put upon them, pecially gay media, ” Campbell tells Hor. In the past two s there’s been a greater acceptance of gay men many societi.

This n be seen, for stance, by the number of overtly gay men who occupy centre stage on prime time TV. And Somizi’s speech is fluenced by the South Ain lexin known as “Gayle” which is still e today the untry. Ken Cage extensively explored the language’s history and velopment his 2003 book “Gayle: the language of kks and queens: a history and dictnary of gay language South Ai”.

All of the varieti of language were veloped historilly by gay men (and to a lser extent lbians) who need their own way of speakg to avoid tectn and persecutn.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

Gayle remas as popular as ever – but has evolved, shifted and bee a language spoken by more than jt gay men. It has been adopted by others, and is ed often by those who want to show allegiance wh gay people.

There is a growg amount of rearch about Gayle, and ’s even been the subject of a short documentary, “Visg Gayle” by filmmaker Lren Mulligan. As I have argued my own rearch, the populary and longevy of Gayle South Ai shows how lguistic rourc n be mobilised by anyone.

LIST OF SOUTH AIN GAY ACTORS – PICTUR

This also turns on s head the notn that speakg a particular way, wh certa tonatns or phras, “mak” a person gay. The origs of Gayle.

“Gayle” morphed om what was lled “Moffietaal”. The word “moffie” scrib not only gay men but also effemate men and transvt.

“Moffietaal” n be traced to loured gay muni Cape Town which have a long tradn of queer subcultur datg back to the late 19th century (the word “loured” is ed to scribe people of mixed racial leage South Ai). What mak “Gayle” different to gay varieti ed other parts of the world is that a batn of women’s nam and Aikaans slang to scribe other gay people or gay experienc. For example a “Polly Papagaai” is a gay man who gossips (“papagaai” means “parrot” Aikaans); an “Ale adr” is a vdictive gay man (“adr” beg a kd of snake).

ONLY LADS : EE GAY DATG & GAY CHAT SOCIAL WORK

A person don’t need to be queer to e the mp nstctns of Gayle. Yet there seems to be a lgerg perceptn by the populace at large that when a man speaks or acts mp that they mt be a homosexual and a failed man. Conventnal heterosexualy is based on the bari of “man/woman”, “mascule/feme” and “heterosexual/homosexual”.

So although Gayle endur and has veloped a wir appeal, this do not mean that is pletely mastream. In other ntexts, speakg Gayle uld have terrible repercsns – for example at a barbecue wh nventnally-md South Ain men.

This article has been updated to reflect that the South Ain ntributn to this disciple was penned by Ken Cage his 2003 book Gayle: the language of kks and queens: a history and dictnary of gay language South Ai. While Cape Town tak the crown as the ‘gay-pal’ of South Ai, Johannburg do still offer a vibrant and diverse LGBTQ+ scene. The scene here is que spread out, wh no ‘gay-village’ to speak of, like the Waterkant Cape Town.

GAY SOUTH AI

Gay bars and clubs are found the suburbs of Sandton, Melville, Parkhurst and Illovo. Homosexualy is owned upon by many, particularly wh the township muni. As such, LGBTQ+ South Ains n and often do face discrimatn and homophobia.

GAY MAN FOUND AD ON HIS 22ND BIRTHDAY IS SOUTH AI’S 4TH LGBTQ PERSON KILLED A MONTH; SPECT, 17, ARRTED

Other notable LGBTQ+ events clu the Pk Loerie Mardi Gras Knysna, held May; Durban Pri, held June; the Mr Gay South Ai event, held November; and the Out Ai Film Ftival, which occurs both Johannburg and Cape Town, ually September or October.