RainbowUCT: Appreciating the Fabulous

Trailer Trash Bash!

2009-09-23T23:56:00.003+02:00

It's official, the theme for the RainbowUCT Year-End Function is: Trailer Trash Bash!!!

The party will be happening at the Tennis Club on Friday the 23rd October from 8pm - 1am.

We'll send out more reminders closer to the time, but remember - the more plastic hair and blue eyeshadow you have on, and the longer your nails the better you look (in a trailer park at least!). For the more butch among us, start growing that mullet out and collect stains on your wife-beater vests...

PS. There will be lots of fabulous box wine & paper cups, along with snacks of course - can't forget the devilled eggs and cold meat platters!

Wine Tasting @ Spier & Lesbigay Spring Ball

2009-09-21T16:22:00.003+02:00

The wine tasting at Spier Wine Estate this past Saturday was a huge success - with a total of over 50 students (from UCT, UWC and US) in attendance. The booze train to Stellenbosch was also quite a raucous affair ;) To a certain person who had an affinity for the lake (you know who you are), watch your back!

Anyhow, this coming Friday - 25 September, the University of Stellenbosch is holding their Annual Spring Ball.

The venue is Tiramisu at Van der Stel Sportgrounds. There will be a cash bar so that we may further the party until the next morning. There is a dance area. The theme is Spring: So wear bright colours or come as hippies; those that are daring can cross dress as Bree van der Kamp with a floral dress and a basket of muffins.

You may bring partners, but it is crucial that you RSVP for both, stating your names. There will only be allocated dining places for those who have RSVP'ed before the cut-off date. Everyone from UCT is more than welcome to attend for a small fee of R10 (really cheap for a buffet and wine!). Once you have RSVP'ed Simon will send you a confirmation email.

You must RSVP before 22/09/2009.

To RSVP contact:
Simon Jacobs
076 282 0605
simon.geritt.jacobs@gmail.com
lesbigay@sun.ac.za
15353818@sun.ac.za

East Meets West: Paparazzi Shots!

2009-09-01T05:38:00.002+02:00

The pics from East Meets West: Hollywood Meets Bollywood are up on the RainbowUCT Facebook Group! Go have a look, and tag yourself ;p

For those of you who don't have Facebook, or who aren't members of the group (join NOW!!!), you can go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=303532&id=770265580&l=92341dc71c

The debauchery will continue at the Year-End Function on October 23rd, be there...

Hugs & Kisses!

Out In Africa Film Festival

2009-08-30T21:52:00.006+02:00

The 16th OUT IN AFRICA South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival takes place in Johannesburg from 3-13 September and in Cape Town from 10-20 September 2009 and features 17 international feature films and 9 South African productions, five of which are world premieres.

The festival has a wide range of films to appeal to all with subjects that run the gamut of human experience. Themes range and include, amongst others: high school hilarities, forbidden love, coming out, the desire for children and ageing gigolos. Moviegoers can look forward to comedies, tragedies, dramas and thought provoking documentaries. Every genre of filmmaking is covered including homage to celebrated gay icons. Award winning international directors and actors will attend as guests of the festival.

The festival opens with Spinnin' (6 Billion Different People) a film made by Spanish director Eusebio Pastrana in 2007. This is the Spaniards at their wacky best – an exuberant award winning film set in Madrid in 1995 and follows lovers Garate and Omar as they seek to have a child.

Included in the line up is Fig Trees. Directed by John Greyson, this Canadian production is a contemporary opera based on the lives of South Africa’s own HIV/Aids activist, Zackie Achmat and Canadian Tim McCaskell. The film uses clever historical references to Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thompson and is richly layered, intelligent and unique. Greyson, who is considered the Prince of Gay Filmmaking, is a guest of the festival and will be in attendance. He travels courtesy of the Canadian High Commission.

Angel, directed by Giorgios Katakouzinos is an award winning film that when it debuted at Cannes in 1982, took the world by storm. Based on a true story this Greek classic is considered the one Greek film that all Greeks have seen.

Anyone who has seen Cabaret will be fascinated by Chris and Don, directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara this amazing documentary is about Christopher Isherwood whose short stories “Goodbye to Berlin” were the basis for the musical Cabaret. This sharp, witty and revealing film is told mainly by his lover, Don, and is supported by amazing archival footage of Hollywood starting in the late ’40s.

Courtesy of the British Council, the festival welcomes in attendance director Simon Pearce and producer Christian Martin whose film Shank follows the story of working class Cal who hides the fact that he is gay to his fellow gang members. Trouble erupts when he rescues a French boy his gang beats up. This explicit, shocking, largely hand-held film has already picked an international award and breathes new life into British alternative cinema.

Probably the most controversial film of the festival is the recently unbanned by the South African Film & Publications Board, XXY. This multi-award winning film is a complex tale of gender, identity and sexual orientation. Beautifully shot with stellar performances, the festival is proud to welcome the director, Lucía Puenzo and lead actor Inés Efron

Director Faith Trimel from the USA will also be in South Africa to present her film, Family, which is about a group of 30-something African-American lesbians who make a pact to finally come out to their families and colleagues with surprising and hilarious results. Trimel travels courtesy of the US Embassy, and will be accompanied in Cape Town by actor Blanca Avalos.

The South African films in the festival include a re-release of Zackie Achmat’s 1999 Apostles of Civilised Vice, an important film which unpacks the tangled, tragic and often ironic queer history of South Africa. Cunningly presented, endlessly revealing this film reclaims and rewrites the place of gays and lesbians in history and presents a new one that is celebrated, as opposed to criminalised and marginalised.

Directed by Jacque Oldfield and Adelheid Reinecke, the 16^th OUT IN AFRICA film festival will also be the world premiere for South Africa’s first full length lesbian feature film: Dykeumentary.

Opening the festival in both Johannesburg and Cape Town will be world acclaimed and beloved South African icon, Pieter Dirk Uys as himself.

Sponsors of the Festival include:
Atlantic Philanthropies, The National Lottery Board, Avis, Nu Metro, British Council,
French Embassy, Canadian High Commission, US Embassy, Argentine Embassy
La Scala Montecasino, and The Glen Cape Town

For more information go to: www.oia.co.za

The SoapBox Label

2009-08-24T21:36:00.003+02:00

As some of you may know, Dylan Van Vuuren has started a project - The SoapBox Label - which is a brand that provides the platform for self expression using clothing as the medium of communication.

They have launched with an iconic limited edition black shirt proudly proclaiming your identity in a bold white print: “I Am An African.” The fitted style shirt is available as a vest, a crew-neck (the usual cut) and a V-neck. The vests go for just R80, and the T-shirts are only R100. By the way, they’re also proudly South African!

Check them out here:

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/The-SoapBox-Label/108510454405?ref=ts

Website: http://www.thesoapboxlabel.co.za/

Interested? Sure you are. Send them a message, leave them a wall post or scream out loudly and they’ll get back to you. But please make sure your contact details are quite clear so that they can get back to you, otherwise they’ll just have to scream back. Be part of the movement, join them.

Support your fellow members, and remember: Wash your mouth out!

Election Fever!

2009-08-23T21:04:00.005+02:00

The SRC is holding elections this week for next year's committee, as are we for RainbowUCT's 2010 Committee at tomorrow's discussion group! One of our very own, Brian Muller, is running for SRC and your vote would be appreciated. As we all know, LGBTI representation on the SRC has been dismal in the past, but since 2009 we have had Dylan Van Vuuren (another RainbowUCT member) on the Council. Hopefully we can keep up this positive trend - Vote for Brian Muller for SRC!

Don't forget to cast your vote, for both the RainbowUCT Elections tomorrow at the Pink Room in Centlivres Building from 16:45-18:00, and the SRC (at various voting stations on campus)! Yes we CAN!

Then, this Saturday (29 August), as you all should know, is the (Post) Mid-Year Function - East Meets West: Hollywood Meets Bollywood is going to be a blast! Be at the Tennis Club from 8pm to claim your share of 50 litres of wine! Snacks are being provided so don't be shy to come with an appetite too... I hope your sequins are all sewn on tightly, and your heels are stable, cos it's going to be a rough one!!!

Film Screening & Discussion Group

2009-08-11T12:44:00.003+02:00

Last Friday's film screening was a huge success, with quite a big turnout! We hope that you'll join us this Friday, 14 August, for a screening of Transamerica. We'll start the film at about 17:30/18:00, and finish at about 20:00. So please join us in LS 3A for this really interesting movie. Then next Monday, 17 August, Josh (a trans-man) will share his story with us in The Pink Room in The Centlivres Building from 16:45 - 18:00.

Here is a synopsis of Transamerica from IMDb:

Bree, a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual, holds down two jobs and saves every penny so that she can pay for one last operation that will make her a woman at last. One day, however, she receives a strange phone call. It appears that on the other side is Toby, apparently her son, who must be the product of a somewhat clumsy sexual encounter years ago when she was a man. He stays in New York, incarcerated. Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York in order to get the boy out of jail. At first she is reluctant to do so, but her therapist convinces her to face up to her past. The boy is handed over to her without a word of explanation and Toby believes the woman to be some Christian missionary determined to convert reprobates to Jesus; Bree sees no reason to clear up the misunderstanding. However, she finds out that the boy just wants to escape from her and hitchhike to Los Angeles. She persuades him to accompany her back to the west coast--secretly planning to leave him at his stepfather's along the way. Toby is happy to take her up on her offer.

See y'all!

Movie Screening!

2009-08-05T18:58:00.001+02:00

We'll be screening the "banned" film, XXY, this Friday in LS 3A from between 17:30/18:00 until about 19:30/20:00 - the movie is about 90 minutes long. We'll be providing some snacks and refreshments, but please feel free to bring some of your own if you'd like. Also, don't be shy to bring some friends along if they're interested.

The following is a synopsis of the film from IMDb:

"Alex (Inés Efron), a 15-year old intersex person from Buenos Aires lives secluded with her parents in a fishing village in Uruguay. At birth, her parents decided not to have her operated on, in order for her to choose her gender. Therefore she still has both her sexual organs. However, she takes corticoids and is raised as a girl.
Her parents have moved several times before settling down in Uruguay in order to live a quiet life and keep her from the mockery Alex previously experienced while living in Argentina. One day, however, Alex's mother, Suli (Valeria Bertuccelli), invites a couple and their 15-year old son, Alvaro (Martín Piroyansky) for the week-end. Alvaro and Alex start a friendly relationship and spend a lot of time together under the scrutiny of their parents..."

Start of Semester 2!

2009-07-22T13:44:00.005+02:00

I'm excited to welcome you back to the 2nd Semester, I trust that you had an awesome, fun-filled holiday!

Coming events for Semester 2 are:

Mid-Year Function

Discussion Groups

Movie Screenings

Gat Parties

Closing Function

and more...

The Mid-Year Function will be held at the Tennis Club on 29 August. The winning theme was "East Meets West: Hollywood Meets Bollywood" so whip out your sari, put on your purdah, and jump into your chaps for a gun-slinging, Indian dancing, paparazzi photographing night of debauchery! Don't forget, costumes are essential...the less you wear the better - ask Zayne!

Discussion Groups will begin the 2nd week of term, on the 3rd August and will run until the end of the year. The same venue, CL 329 (Centlivres Building across from Leslie Social Sciences), and the same time, 16:45 - 18:00, applies...

See y'all soon...

Our Humblest Apologies

2009-06-12T15:39:00.002+02:00

Dear Members/Fans,

I would like to apologise on behalf of RainbowUCT for not giving you an awesome Mid-Year Function at the end of Semester One. I think that all of us on the committee didn't expect to be as busy as we were... But, and this is a big but, you will be treated to a FABULOUS Party at the start of next semester! Theme is still being decided - don't forget to vote on the Vula page - and a suitable venue is being sourced!

Have an awesome vacation, and I hope the exams weren't too bad.

Hugs & Kisses,

The RainbowUCT Team

And it begins again...

2009-04-14T15:35:00.003+02:00

So it's been a while since the last update, but here it is...

The 3rd Annual LGBTI Youth Leaders' Conference (hosted on campus from 3-7 April) was a success! The conference culminated with the launch of the newly-formed network of SA LGBTI Youth Organisations, Kaleidoscope, which Vice Chancellor Max Price and Zackie Achmat attended.

Next Monday, 20 April, we'll be starting your weekly dose of discussion for the 2nd term.

See you from 16:45 - 18:00 in CL 329 Centlivres Building for some coffee, tea and lively discussion on your favourite topic...SEX!

Otherwise, have a great first week, and an even better weekend!

Adoption, Notes and Movies...

2009-03-14T15:47:00.002+02:00

The film we screened last night was amazing, just goes to show that we've come a long way since the 70's and 80's. Anyway, Monday's discussion topic is "Adoption of Children by Same-Sex Couples", and as usual - feel free to arrive from 4:45pm at CL 329 to help yourself to some tea and coffee.

A friend and ex-RainbowUCT committee member, Kabelo (aka LaChance Devereaux), posted a poignant note entitled - For The Straight Boys - on Facebook the other day. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. It goes as follows:

"Dear Friends

This is something I wrote when I was around 15 or so. I can't remember the exact sequence of events that led to the writing of this, but I do know that someone at school said something offensive to me. I went home that night, sat at my desktop and just began typing. This was the end result.

NB: Like I said, I wrote this when I was 15 and also quite angry at the time, so please excuse any juvenility or childishness.

MY HOMEGIRL Christina Aguilera said it succinctly in her song Can’t Hold Us Down: “You’re just a little boy/think you’re so cute so coy/You must talk so big to make up for smaller things/You’re just a little boy/All you do is annoy/You must talk so big to make up for smaller things”. She did it again in Still Dirrty, singing: “Don’t tell me to behave/Cause I’ll never play that game/Don’t tell me what to do/’Cause I’ll never be uptight like you/Don’t look at me that way/‘Cause I ain’t never gonna change/And if you’re talking about my life/You’re only wasting your own time.”

So basically what I’m saying to you straight little heifers is that y’all are cowards somewhat. You stand with your boys and shout things like “Sies!” whenever I’m in the vicinity and turn your heads the minute I do the same, trying to see who it is. The truth is, not a single one of you has the balls to come up to me alone and say those things to my face. What? Are you scared I might touch your azzy or something? Please. You’re not that cute. When I try to converse with some of you, my gestures are returned in the form of obscenities and, sometimes, just barefaced homophobia. Or should that be ignorance? When you guys are hungry and KB’s in the tuckshop line and everybody else is refusing to buy for you (or just ignoring you deliberately... in which case I wouldn’t be surprised), whom do y’all holler at? Exactly. I’ve noticed that the way you act towards me is determined by your circumstances. When you’re in need of something and I’m the only person available (or with the means) to give it to you, you forget that I’m gay and that you hate me (and those like me) so much. I’m the sort that dislikes pretentiousness, but I conceal my feelings, and only for the sake of world peace (an outburst of mine can measure up to 6.8 on the Richter scale).

There is a (straight) guy among you who purports to be my friend, but his two-faced nature is more familiar with immature adolescent girls. He is good-humoured with me out of the public eye, and suddenly turns his back on me the moment he’s with his friends, and he gives me the I-don’t-want-them-to-start-calling-me-gay excuse. The only reason he does that is because he wants to be in the majority, and I’ve realised that being in the majority always gives one a sense of social validation. It’s a terribly disheartening phenomenon, but I suppose that’s whyit’s called social validation.

Last year, another guy told me that I’ll “be okay” if I just get myself “a real girlfriend”, to which I’ve replied, rather abruptly, “You’ll be even better if you get yourself a boyfriend and shut up!” I’ve been asked, “Why can’t you just be gay and not have to act like a girl?” Oh, please. If I acted like a boy, whatever the hell that means, it’s not as if you’d actually condone my lifestyle. Some of you reduce sexual orientation to something as plain as a 10-Step Programme, but I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s not that simple.

Then there are the double standards you exercise. When two girls kiss, it’s the most erotic turn-on a man can have. When it’s two guys, suddenly it’s the worst sin fathomable. I overheard a guy saying that if any of his sons turned out to be gay, he’d ‘cure’ him by forcing him to watch lesbian pornography. Which I find stupid, of course, because if he’s not sexually aroused by one naked woman, just what will turn him on about two naked women fornicating with each other?
And don’t even get me started on the After Nines among you.

Clearly, you are immune to the fact that being gay is hard enough without having to bring religion into the equation. I am not very well acquainted with God, but I hold the opinion that He’d would prefer two men/women to love each other rather than to hate each other. As long as it is love being reciprocated, who really cares whether the attraction is sexual or not?

I’m told I’m going to ‘burn in hell’ for my ‘practices’. Oh yes, of course. As if indulging in pre-marital sex, impregnating someone and then shirking your parental responsibilities will dispatch you straight to the Pearly Gates. I’m not a virgin either, but you’re the topic right now, not me. The Bible states that only God is fit to judge, but that is a part of God’s Word that many of you ‘Christians’ seem to forget. Since the days of Adam and Eve, people have being doing exactly what their hearts desire regardless of what God had said, so why does it matter so much that homosexuals exist and persist in their ways? People rewrite His word just to suit their arguments, it seems. I’m supposed to be getting the most support from reverends and pastors, but they’re the ones causing most of my torment (like Abraham Sibiya who writes regular religious columns for the newspaper "Sunday Sun"). So much for loving thy neighbour.
People like him probably just shrug at things like paedophilia and incest.

May I suggest (like anyone’s gonna stop me) that you’d better come up with something more legitimate than your own heterosexuality if you’d like to advertise your own ‘morality’. My homosexuality was a blessing (yes, a blessing) bestowed upon me with no effort on my part whatsoever, and is something that is so woven into the very anchorage of my being that nothing could ever change it.

What I don’t get is that there is nothing to gain out of hating gays, yet you continue to do so nonetheless. I mean, why does anyone even bother? Are your lives truly that boring? I would understand your reactions if I was going around making brash and overt sexual advances on you or something to that effect, but I’m not. It’s not like someone is paying you handsomely to be bigoted, narrow-minded homophobes, but then again some of y’all look like you need the cash, mind. I am aware that you feel you need to protect your masculinity (for lack of better phrasing), but is it truly necessary to go to such extremes? Hating me and calling me names might make you feel like more of a man, but the truth is that you’re not insulting, wounding or slighting me by doing so; you’re just showing your own lack of upbringing.

Fact: your girlfriends adore me. They come to me when they need advice concerning things like fashion, make-up tips, music and relationships (e.g. when you cheat on her, etc.), all of which adds a definite element of truth to the dictum, “A girl’s best friend is a gay man.” And I love the disgust on your faces when you see that I look better in tight jeans than she does. She goes crazy when I emulate Beyoncé’s booty-hop. The only reason you laugh when I do it is because, nine times out of ten, I do it better than your girlfriend and, sometimes, even Beyoncé herself.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not crying out for your attention or for you to accept me (my parents do, and that’s quite enough thank you), and neither do I hold a grudge against you (because there are more important things that need to be worried about in my life... like what colour my wedding dress will be, etc.). I just felt that I needed to point out the obvious, which is something you do a mighty good job of being oblivious about.

Yours with love,

Kabelo

And one more thing... If I really am going to Hell, chances are I might see your face there. I’ll be standing next to the braai stand, waiting to fry your ass. If you don’t recognise me, I’ll be the toned, topless one in the red latex booty shorts, black knee-length stiletto boots and bling à la J. Lo. I’ll also be brandishing a sterling silver pitchfork, just in case you try something funny."

Have a great weekend!

Events: 09 -13 March 2009

2009-03-09T22:28:00.004+02:00

Well, the Pride Parade and Carnival were absolutely FABULOUS! A great time was had by all...the only downside was that we were told that we'd be arrested if caught drinking in public - I mean really?!?! Anyway, we had a great time nonetheless. Coda were awesome as usual, and a new band - The Magic of Pegasus - were really random. There was a skinny guy wearing nothing but bright pink briefs on stage!

The discussion this evening was on "Discrimination Within Minority Groups - Particularly Within The LGBTI Community". It sparked quite a healthy debate, and some interesting opinions and theories were put forward.

This Friday, 13th March, we'll be having a Movie Screening in LS 3A from 5pm onwards. Feel free to bring some snacks and "liquid refreshments", and some snacks will be provided by us.

See y'all there!

Events: 28 February - 2 March 2009

2009-02-26T08:39:00.003+02:00

The Discussion Group on Monday had quite a high attendance, which was quite promising for the start of the year. I hope to see you all next Monday (2 March) in Room CL 329, in the Centlivres Building, from 16:45 for tea, coffee, biscuits and a discussion on “Pride – Reinforcing Stereotypes or Furthering the LGBTI Agenda?” It’s bound to be interesting as there are quite diverse views on the subject.

On the topic of Pride, an “Alternative” Calendar of Pride Events is being organised by a breakaway group of LGBTI stakeholders. Tonight there will be a talk on “Male Rape & Sexual Violence” at Friendly Society in Green Point at 7pm. Please contact Triangle Project for more information regarding this and other events.

Then on Saturday (28 February) we’ll be marching as RainbowUCT, in the Cape Town Pride Parade. We’ll be marching with a 5 x 3m long flag, starting off at Green Point Traffic Department at 12pm (please try to be there by 11:45) and ending at Prestwich Primary School, where the Pride Carnival is being held. The entrance fee to the Carnival is R30 and its loads of fun – live entertainment, arts & crafts, fashion show, drag performances and FABULOUS t-shirts for sale by Westley!!!

And just to be clear - this Friday (27 February), we’ll be having our Opening Function at 6pm at the UCT Club in the Sports Centre. Snacks will be provided, and there is an extremely cheap cash bar available.

RainbowUCT 2009!

2009-02-20T19:11:00.001+02:00

Welcome to the RainbowUCT blog! We are undergoing a change, and from now on we will not be using the website – www.rainbowuct.org – because vomit green colouring and exorbitant pricing doesn’t appeal to us anymore.

Firstly, O-Week was a HUGE success because we drew in a record number of signups, which means this is going to be our biggest year yet! Thanks to all of you who have already signed up, and to those who still want to sign up – come to our Opening Function on the 27th February at 6pm at the UCT Club in the Sports Centre. Snacks will be provided, and there is a ridiculously cheap cash bar available.

This Monday, 23rd February, we’ll be hosting our first Discussion Group in CL 329 in the Centlivres Building across from Leslie Social Sciences from 5-6pm. This will just be an introductory session, and tea & coffee will be provided.

Considering that this is Pride Week, Louis Fourie has extended an invite to all RainbowUCT members to partake in a Pride Hike up Lion’s Head on Sunday, 22nd February, starting at 11am. Meet at the foot of Lion’s Head at the beginning of Signal Hill Road – bring water and refreshments along to enjoy at the top of the hill.

Otherwise, I hope you guys have a FABULOUS weekend – the Pride RED Party is happening at Beaulah Bar tonight.

See you there!!!

Kisses,
Kyle