Danika takes PE: Bigger than Race

So every post of mine seems to have some sort of racial undertone. I just can’t escape it. There is constantly a reminder that this lingering apartheid exists in every facet of society.

HOWEVER, this week I had the pleasure of attending two different events where race really didn’t matter. I can’t fully explain how refreshing it was to see all groups of people coming together, who really do respect each other, and are engaging in a mutually beneficial relationship. No jargon used about differentiating anyone, just people. Just people coming together.

The first was at church down the road from the parish that I work for. It was one of these newfangled churches with a rock band on stage, and everybody waving their hands in the air. They serve proper coffee for free! The priest reads from his iPad, cracking all kinds of jokes. Less church, more of a social club. No sin, just road bumps. Religion made appealing. Religion made easy? I was absolutely not was I was used to, or even comfortable with, but it was so refreshing to see race NOT dominating the mood. There were people from all backgrounds standing next to each other, worshiping together, praising together. TOGETHER. Not talking about each other, not talking down to each other; talking to each other! It was nice.

And the second event was a bit less expected. On Sunday morning I read in the paper that Port Elizabeth was hosting a GLBT Pride Festival. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but my hopes weren’t high. I don’t even know the official legal status of same sex marriage here; everybody has a different take on the law. I would absolutely say that, as a whole, PE and maybe South Africa is a whole lot more homophobic than I am use to.

Homosexuality is very condemned in the Xhosa culture. Among my grade 10 learners, calling a boy gay is the worst slam you could give. I have a lesbian friend who faces so much adversity because of her sexuality, and is always referred to as a “he.” Hate crimes are a daily struggle. An NNMU campus activist that I met with a few weeks back shared his frustrations the lack of empathy, and even active resistance that he meets every day.

I hear the “I don’t hate the gays, but they…….” That sort of jargon. SHeeeshhhH! Why the groups? Why the “they?” Aren’t we all in this life together? Don’t we all have struggles, and if we stopped thinking of people as them, or the others, wouldn’t things get a bit less daunting? Ok, end of rant.

Anyway, I tell you all of this because I wanted to preface this Pride Parade with my lack of enthusiasm for a big turnout. I was wrong! A few hundred people, allies and GLBT community, came out to show support. We had the opportunity to BE the parade! We got some honks of encouragement, some of frustration, and some just of ignorance. I met some new friends, and was able to hear the stories of some struggles. My favorite line of the day was “I was born gay, but I choose to be proud!”

Again, this festival drew people of all races. People coming together, maybe not to worship this time, but absolutely to praise! Race wasn’t the issue. Fear wasn’t the issue. Hate wasn’t even the issue.

It really got me thinking. Here I am writing this, making it out to be some history paper that I got so good a cranking out, trying to find some thread of commonality, or even force some point. But there is something here. I haven’t fully worked it out yet, but it seems to me that at this happy-clappy church, and the issue of gay rights have something in common which I have been so hungry for. Something bigger than race! Some things are just that: more important than race, or history, or culture. Some things are human issues.