Queer Visibilities E-Book

Andrew Tucker

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: RGS-IBG Book Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 536

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Combining current theory and original fieldwork, Queer Visibilities explores the gap between liberal South African law and the reality for groups of queer men living in Cape Town.

• Explores the interface between queer sexuality, race, and urban space to show links between groups of queer men
• Focuses on three main 'population groups' in Cape Town—white, coloured, and black Africans
• Discusses how HIV remains a key issue for queer men in South Africa
• Utilizes new research data—the first comprehensive cross-community study of queer identities in South Africa

Leseprobe

Contents

Figures and Tables

Series Editors’ Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter One Queer Visibilities in Cape Town

Introduction

A Question of Visibility

Questioning the Sites and Categories of Study

Questioning ‘the Closet’

Recasting what is ‘Queerly Visible’

The Construction of ‘Race’ in South African Urban Space

Queer Visibilities in Cape Town

Some Notes on Methods

Notes on Form

Part I Visibilities

Chapter Two Legacies and Visibilities among White Queer Men

Introduction

The Intertwining of Racial and Sexuality-Based Discrimination

A Developing Culture and the Dying Days of Apartheid

The West as Destination: Visibility on the Cape

Cracks in the Façade

Locating the Visibility of White Queer Men

Conclusion

Chapter Three Coloured Visibilities and the Raced Nature of Heteronormative Space

Introduction

The Creation and Destruction of a Coloured Community

‘The Vices of Both Parents and the Virtues of Neither’

Moffies!

Respectability and the Ambivalence of Coloured Identity

A Legacy Continued: Gender and the Construction of Coloured Queer Communities

‘It’s actually quite scary... this effeminate dude that flaunts his fake-ass tits’

Queer Visibility in the City Bowl and on the Cape Flats

Conclusion

Chapter Four How to be a Queer Xhosa Man in the Cape Town Townships

Introduction

The Black ‘Threat’ and the European ‘Contamination’

The Possibility of Qualified Acceptance

Ivys and Pantsulas on the Cape

Creating Competing Visibilities

The Delineation of Visibilities

Homophobia and the Creation of Social Nodes

Conclusion

Part II Interactions

Chapter Five Social Invisibilities

Introduction

Breaking Down the Fortifications

The Power of the Rand and the Weakness of Solidarity

Gender Identity as Exclusion

Ignorance as Exclusion

Conclusion

Chapter Six Political Invisibilities (and Visibilities)

Offering the Services of Triangle Project

Being Proud of Cape Town Pride

Same-sex Marriage: being Married to a Constitution

Conclusion

Chapter Seven The Costs of Invisibility

Introduction

HIV and the Cost of Invisibility

Queer Visibilities, Queer Diversities and HIV

Rainbow Homophobia, Rainbow Lives

Concluding the Case for Queer Visibility

Notes

Bibliography

Index

RGS-IBG Book Series

Published

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Edited by David L. Higgitt and E. Mark Lee

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Living Through Decline: Surviving in the Places of thePost-Industrial Economy

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This edition first published 2009

© 2009 Andrew Tucker

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tucker, Andrew, 1980–

Queer visibilities: space, identity, and interaction in Cape Town/Andrew Tucker.

p. cm.—(RGS-IBG book series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-8303-1 (hardcover: alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4051-8302-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Gay men—South Africa—Cape Town—Social conditions. 2. Sexual orientation—South Africa—Cape Town. 3. Sex discrimination—South Africa—Cape Town. 4. Gay men—Identity. 5. Cape Town (South Africa)—Social conditions. I. Title.

HQ76.2.S6T83 2009

306.76′6209687355—dc22

2008024001

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Set in 10 on 12pt Plantin by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed in Malaysia by Vivar Printing Sdn Bhd

1 2009

Figures and Tables

Figures

2.1The location of the De Waterkant gay village in the centre of Cape Town2.2A view up Dixon Street in the gay village2.3The location of various leisure and consumer venues in the gay village2.4The location of suburban areas in relation to the CBD/City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard3.1Zonnebloem today, close to the heart of the city3.2District Six prior to forced removals (in grey) and today3.3Kewpie, a coloured queer hairdresser © copyright GALA3.4Coloured cross-dressing ‘moffies’ circa0 1960 © copyright GALA3.5Some of the locations to which coloured groups from District Six were moved3.6A coloured cross-dressing queer man today3.7Front covers of Detail newspaper4.1The location of the Transkei and Ciskei in relation to Cape Town4.2The location of some of the major townships in Cape Town today4.3Informal shacks in Cape Town5.1Monthly income amongst the employed aged 15–65 by population groups in South Africa6.1Triangle Project offices located in Mowbray in Cape Town6.2A view into the gated party at the end of the 2004 Johannesburg Pride

Unless otherwise stated all photographs taken by and © the author.

Tables

3.1Size of racially defined population groups in South Africa, 20013.2Size of racially defined population groups in Cape Town, 2001

Series Editors’ Preface

The RGS-IBG Book Series only publishes work of the highest international standing. Its emphasis is on distinctive new developments in human and physical geography, although it is also open to contributions from cognate disciplines whose interests overlap with those of geographers. The Series places strong emphasis on theoretically-informed and empirically-strong texts. Reflecting the vibrant and diverse theoretical and empirical agendas that characterize the contemporary discipline, contributions are expected to inform, challenge and stimulate the reader. Overall, the RGS-IBG Book Series seeks to promote scholarly publications that leave an intellectual mark and change the way readers think about particular issues, methods or theories.

For details on how to submit a proposal please visit: www.rgsbookseries.com

Kevin Ward

University of Manchester, UK

Joanna Bullard

Loughborough University, UK

RGS-IBG Book Series Editors

Acknowledgements

This book was made possible with the assistance of the Economic & Social Research Council of the UK.

I say with absolute certainty that had it not been for the continual support of my PhD supervisor, Gerry Kearns, this book would not have come about. It is with equal certainty that I say Gerry is one of the most kind, thoughtful and intelligent people I have ever met. My time at Cambridge has been immeasurably enriched by knowing Gerry and being able to explore and think about the world with him in ways that I had never thought possible. It is therefore with great thanks that I dedicate this book to him. Cheers, mate.

In South Africa I could not have survived without the help of so many individuals. I would especially like to thank Marina Griebenow for always being there to pick me up and dust me off whenever life in the city became a bit too hectic. As a continual source of kindness and information about the Mother City she helped set me on the course that concluded with this book. Cape Town is a better place with her living in it.

I would also like to give a big thank you to the staff of Triangle Project, the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA) and all the other organisations I met and got to know. Thanks therefore go to Dawn Betteridge, Anthony Manion, Toni Sylvester, Mabhuti Mkangeli, Funeka Soldaat and Vista Kalipa. In particular, I’d like to acknowledge and thank Glenn de Swardt for showing me not only the breadth and depth of the city of Cape Town, but also how to cope with its extremes. Over the years that I have known him, Glenn has worked tirelessly to achieve a better world for all queer individuals in the city. It is perhaps an indicator of both his humility and effort that today so many queer men and women in the city do not even know how he has helped them. South Africa is a country that, despite its problems, has achieved so much good for so many in such a short period of time. To continue astounding the world, it will need more individuals like Glenn.

A special word of thanks also needs to be extended to Paul Wise for battling through countless hours of tape and transcribing the most muffled comments into comprehensible prose. Thanks also need to be extended to Leon Kruger (for all those chats, coffees and nights out) and to Sharad Chari, Ismail Jazbhay, Vasu Reddy, Graeme Reid, Teresa Dirsuweit, Peter van der Walt; David Stoch, Nathan Romburgh, Alex Hivoltze-Jimenez and Jean Mearing for their friendship and assistance. And lastly on that note, a big thank you to David Stockwell, my consiglieri on the Cape (and then later in London). As a sounding board and as a friend, David made the whole process of researching and then writing just that much more enjoyable.

In Cambridge a big shout-out also needs to go to Jane Robinson, Jane Hampshire and Robert Carter for helping me source so much information. Further thanks to Philip Stickler for applying his prodigious skills to help create the maps in this book. Thanks also to Simon Reid-Henry, Steve Legg, Karen Till, Richard Smith, Phil Howell, Jim Duncan, Liz Watson, David Nally, Steve Trudgill, Stu Basten, Hannah Weston, Tom Welsh, Andrew Rudd, Marco Wan, Andrew Ferguson, David Beckingham, Fran Moore, Rory Gallagher and Jacob Levy for their friendship through thick and thin.

In a similar yet also unique vein, a big thank you to Fran Sainsbury for always bringing with her a moment of calm, fun and friendship. From ‘spiders making gravy’ to the RCSA to life as adults you’ve stayed a person I know I’ll always love and respect.

A big thank you also to Kevin Ward, editor at the RGS-IBG Book Series, for his encouragement and support. At Wiley-Blackwell a huge debt of gratitude needs to be paid to Jacqueline Scott and Hannah Morrell for their highly professional help in guiding my book through the process towards publication. And a further shout-out to Kit Scorah for applying her truly excellent and tireless copy-editing skills to this book.

Thank you also to Jon Binnie and Jennifer Robinson for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this work.

A special thank you also to Mum and Dad and my sister, Ronnie. To each of you in different and yet equally important ways I say how grateful I am, knowing that you have always been there for me along the way. And I state with the deepest love how proud I am to be related to you.

And lastly, to Richard Nkulikiyinka for keeping me sane and filled with happiness.

Chapter One

Queer Visibilities in Cape Town

Introduction

At the end of 2006 South Africa joined a very small, yet very special club. Indeed, this club was so special that, since its creation at the beginning of the new millennium, it had lead to incessant discussion among many other nations. While very few other countries seemed particularly enthusiastic about joining its membership, several spent a remarkably large amount of time explaining why those who had joined were mistaken in doing so. Commentators in nations stretching from the Middle East to Eastern Europe to Africa all appeared to believe that membership must never be sanctioned and, if possible, should be actively legislated against.1 The President of the United States even went so far as to suggest subscribing to the club’s ideas might imperil the ‘most fundamental institution of civilisation’.2 This was therefore, in some ways, not only a special, but also apparently a rather dangerous club.

South Africa had decided to grant same-sex couples the right to marry. It joined the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Canada. The legalisation of same-sex marriage has helped position South Africa as the most progressive country on the entire continent. Nationally, same-sex marriage has been held up as one of the strongest examples of the country’s move away from an intolerant past – a past now more associated with the opponents of same-sex marriage than with the current South African government. Some might fairly argue that such achievements have been well worth the hyperbole from ‘less progressive’ countries.

And indeed, the achievement of South Africa in this regard should not be underestimated. In just one and a half decades the country has gone from persecuting and arresting individuals with same-sex desire, to allowing them to adopt children and marry. No other country has so radically changed its position towards queer individuals or the world’s perception of itself in such a short period of time.

Yet while such achievements have indeed been admirable, the legal rights attained do not necessarily equate to daily improvements in the lives of many queer South Africans. While, de jure, queer citizens in South Africa now have the ability to marry, de facto, many still cannot. And while cities such as Cape Town are able to boast about their liberal and accepting stance towards queer individuals, the reality on the ground for many, even in Cape Town, may be considerably different. This book explores this gap between liberal law and the more dangerous reality for groups of queer men in Cape Town.

To understand this gap requires first an acknowledgement of the diversity of queer experiences in the country and, as this book will show, the diversity across urban space in one particular city. As researchers in other locations have shown, the variety of community experiences that make up queer existence across the globe is truly staggering (Cruz-Malavé and Manalansan 2002; Hayes 2000; Jackson and Sullivan 1999; Parker 1999; Patton and Sánchez-Eppler 2000; Reid-Pharr 2002). An attempt to understand any local queer community therefore requires a detailed exploration of the many issues that have affected, and continue to affect, it. Yet in a country such as South Africa, queer experiences are further complicated by the extraordinary way in which communities have historically been spatially regulated by the state. The use of ‘race’ as the basis of a system of discrimination has left the country with deep social, economic and political scars. Queer communities today have therefore also remained strongly influenced by the way colonial and later apartheid mechanisms compartmentalised, regulated and manipulated groups.