Queer for Madiba

The Community of Mandela Rhodes Scholars (CMRS) is a rather queer and gay snapshot of a utopian society. Queer in the sense of it being “different” or “strange”, and gay because CMRS gatherings are often jubilant and joyous occasions.

But beyond the archaic and now dated uses of these terms, the CMRS has proven to be an idealistically diverse and utopian cross-section of society at large: South Africans and Africans, black and white, religious and atheist, men and women, and even more queer on this dark continent of ours: gay, bisexual and straight.

On this continent where gender inequality and institutionalised discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation remains pervasive and at odds with developments elsewhere, the CMRS experiences a flicker of hope in an overwhelming mass of darkness.

The pink folk, the Friends of Dorothy, fags, moffies, queens, kinks and dykes are not judged by their sexual preference, or as any more abnormal than most scholars (or people, for that matter). Instead the CMRS is a space where your character, your contribution and your REELness¹ and authenticity is valued, and even more so, celebrated.

This community is in theory no different to the rest of continent from where all its constituents are drawn, a continent marred by social divisions along class, ethnic, gender, racial, religious, political and ideological lines, and indeed, even sexual orientation (as not only demonstrated in Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, but also even in South Africa despite our liberal constitutional and democratic order).

Thus, in theory, the confluence of these social divisions in a body of approximately 124 scholars should in reality reflect a divided society, a society steeped in conflict and a society torn apart by prejudice and misconceptions.

It would be naive to pretend there are hardly ever issues when the scholars come together and make their Mandela Rhodes Magic^TM, but it is rarely as a result of demographic realities, and more often a case of putting a couple of strong-willed, feisty and intellectual individuals in one room.

Fundamental differences, arguments and conflicts I have had with fellow scholars were rarely because she was a woman, he was black, or they were Christian. However, let me not deny that we all walk into a CMRS gathering sans misconceptions or stereotypical preconceptions about “the other”. There have been scholars who have learned that not all white people are racist, that not all Christians are narrow-minded or conservative, and that not all pink folk are promiscuous.

Sure, many of us walked in there with particular views about “the other”, I had seriously negative views of Christians, for example. But through exposure to people like Cynthia Ayeza, it was demonstrated that generalising about Christians — or anyone for that matter — is not only dangerous, but counter-productive.

In true CMRS style, issues are debated, discussed, and dialogue, critical and honest reflection is encouraged. It is in this way that we live the legacy of Tata Madiba, a man that admits:

“There was a time when I reacted with revulsion against the whole system of being gay. I was ashamed of my initial views, coming from a society which did not know this type of thing. I understand their position, and I think they are entitled to carry on with what pleases them.” 2

Sure, it is hardly the kind of enlightened and politically correct statement one would hope Tata would make, but it is a reflection of the transformative potential and power of exposure to “the other”, the opportunity to engage with their humanity, to see them not as pink folk, but as human folk.

Similar experiences are noted by the Congress of the People president and parliamentary leader, Mosiuoa Lekota, when he reflects on his experiences in jail during the Delmas Trial alongside Simon Nkoli, an internationally respected and acclaimed gay-rights activist, anti-apartheid struggle veteran and Aids-activist. Being exposed to the gay Nkoli was for many sharing that cell a queer experience at the time, but their appreciation for his contribution, his intellect, his empathy, comradeship, and above all, humanity leave a longer lasting impression, and demonstrates that, queer as they might be, they are one of us, they are human, South African, African.

It is therefore heartbreaking that Terror now presides over a movement in which certain people label gay people as having “a lying tendency”, being attention-seeking, conceited, divisive, that gay men are women, and that as a gay man I must already be having sex with animals too. Worse, these are women who claim to be “gender activists” but undermine the total emancipation of women and “the other” in a patriarchal and paternalistic society.

Spontaneously, a number of the pink folk gathered at the recent CMRS Annual Conference at the Hammanskraal campus of the University of Pretoria and proudly proclaimed the formation of the QMRS^TM, the Queer Mandela Rhodes Scholars, a voluntary association of queer and queer friendly folk who are just, in the Mandela Rhodes tradition, going to “aspire to be!”.

The dark continent has a long way to go before the total emancipation of all her sons and daughters, the queer and the not-so-queer ones, but with a crop of future leaders standing at 124 strong, and with approximately 30 more incoming every year from across the continent, it is my sincere hope that we will continue to mould the perspectives of one another, and go out there and truly make a REEL impact, and create a continent in which we can be queer for Madiba and gay like Rhodes³!

1 REEL = reconciliation, education, entrepreneurship and leadership capacity.
2 Crwys-Williams, J (Ed) 2004. In the words of Nelson Mandela. Johannesburg: Penguin Books. (p48 On Homosexuality)
3 There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that Rhodes was gay, although it is disputed.