Shifting Boundaries of Sexual Identities in Cape Town: The Appropriation and Malleability of ‘Gay’ in Township Spaces

Abstract

While much has been written concerning the effect of the post-apartheid transition upon gay communities in predominantly more affluent parts of South Africa, little is still known about how this transition affected black African residents in the former townships. This article therefore examines the impact that the political transition had on groups in the former townships through an exploration that highlights first the way it helped create delineated sexual binary relationships. It will then go on to explore how the social expression of these binary relationships has a unique geography within the former townships which in turn also allows us to see how an historically very Westerncentric term of identification 'gay' has been appropriated in unique ways.

Islam in sexuality

“…The recognition that terms such as sexuality and homosexuality bring unhelpful and unnecessary baggage is incorporated into theoretical understandings and practical work about and among ‘men who have sex with men’ (MSM) (e.g. Tucker, 2010). Massad asserts that the language of MSM has been ‘quickly transformed from a descriptor into an identity formation’ (p. 266), but I do not find this fully substantiated or fair.…”

“…But it is also important to recognize the limits to reductionist understandings of relationships between Islam and sexuality, for example, by recognizing the practical work of agencies such as the Forced Marriage Unit (in the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office), which is careful to address forced marriage within some Muslim communities while recognizing that this problem is not present in others and that, when present, it is not ‘caused’ by Islam (Phillips, 2012). Similarly, it is important to recognize that, while some transnational sexuality politics might be identified with the ‘Gay International’, others are more nuanced, and that those who adopt lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered identities and politics in North Africa are not necessarily victims of cultural imperialism (Tucker, 2010). I think it is important to respect – critique but not dismiss – efforts to navigate the minefields of international and cross-cultural sexual cultures and politics because these efforts speak to an important question: how to forge solidarities across distances and differences, which seek to establish beneficial and supportive networks and relationships.…”

Geographies of gender and sexuality I: Engaging the shift towards Southern urbanism

“…Furthermore, scholarship is also pointing towards the existence of informal economic enterprises run by or targeted at nonheteronormative communities in the urban South, such as entertainment spaces and service industries. Work here is exploring how such economic activity can exist and find ways to thrive in environments with persistent and severe sexualitybased discrimination (Gevisser, 2020;Tucker, 2009Tucker, , 2010. Further exploration of such enterprises, which often due to their informality exist without formal protections of, or formal relationships with, the state, may signal an important new area of scholarship on urban sexualities, which may be even more enriched by existing southern urban interests on understanding the enabling reasons forand potential strategies to help replicateforms of urban innovation (Simone and Pieterse, 2017).…”