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Statement Clarifying our Relationship with other
Prides in Johannesburg and Beyond
The Working
Group of the Johannesburg Peoples Pride Movement (JHBPP), are doing the work of
implementing the collective vision for a Johannesburg Peoples Pride, as
articulated in the manifesto and mandated by a mass meeting of this movement. As
a movement we are constantly aware that there are many areas for our collective
growth and governance. We have been very attentive to how we work and have,
with movement and ongoing engagement, acted to nourish the values and
principles which underlie our politics and ethic. This is evidenced by the
first mass meeting that produced our manifesto which is a living document, a commitment to change, the promise of
transformation; to our organising committee meetings which are open to all
and are spaces for discussion and implementation.
All
decisions are made by full consensus, all ideas are debated and discussed with
equal measure, all our short-falls are exposed, accounted for, and ways forward
that are responsive to these are proposed and decided on by all of us who form
the collective and who are committed to making the space work. In the last year
we have struggled with capacity and have therefore fallen short as your
committee to these ideals. We aspire to these and call on all comrades and
friends to join the call in continuing to reclaim a PRIDE of POWER, of
PERSISTANCE and of POLITICS.
Both
prior to and after the first Johannesburg Peoples Pride March on 6 October 2013,
a number of statements and questions have been raised on various online platforms,
directed at the movement (through its Working Group).This document serves to
outline a few responses and open up discussions on the various issues raised.
Our Name
The
formation of JHBPP is a direct result of the number of acts of resistance
against an exclusionary LGBTI parade that has marked JHB for the last number of
years. Peoples’ Pride represents a radical break from the commercialised,
racist and classist JHB gay parade. Here, we raise the level of what we demand
of each other within LGBTIAQ organising, what we demand of our communities and
workplaces, and what we demand of the State.
We
are on the margins of society, as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered,
Intersexed Blacks, Women, Migrants, Workers, Disabled People and all those
unlisted here, and yet suffer the burdens of not fitting into the “model person”
“model family” or “model citizen”. Most of us spill into and out of these
identities simultaneously and, for full freedom, require that all of these oppressions
be addressed simultaneously. Most of us do not live, work and interact in Queer
friendly spaces, and need those spaces to transform. We recognise that unless
all of us are free, none of us will be free.
This
Pride is an All Peoples Pride, as opposed to the some people (wealthy, white, privileged)
pride. Our LGBTIAQ identities are front and centre within this movement,
together with the other identities that we occupy. Not above, not below, but
simultaneously. The choice to present as the people represents all of these
complexities. This, by no means, makes our space less Queer for the benefit of heteronormative
comfort, but expands our articulations for the benefit of freedom for all.
Which Pride should I attend? Why do we have
so many Prides and why can we not all unite?
The
JHBPP movement works hand in hand with all Prides which are politically
orientated and have a progressive agenda. The organising committee has used as
a guiding document our collectively-drafted manifesto. In addition to many
civil society organisations, collectives and individuals; some of the founding
members of JHBPP are Soweto Pride, Ekurhuleni Pride and Vaal Pride. There have
been a number of other Pride protests/celebrations to emerge in Gauteng and
other parts of the country which have taken to the politics of claiming the
streets for all. We demand of ourselves
the existence of multiple sites of struggle, defiance and the claiming
of space and therefore see the multiplicity of prides as something to be
celebrated rather than to be seen as negative fragmentation. Unfortunately, there
has also been an emergence of Prides that re-enforce the exclusionary politics
that we struggle against and re-enforce difference and discrimination.
In
our view, these are spaces that re-enforce single issue politics as going
against the spirit of our movement. These spaces are hierarchical, oriented
more toward opulence and expensive partying, hosted in inaccessible spaces for
the majority of people, and require material wealth as entry.
We are
reminded that spaces that endorse a capitalist agenda - such as those
intimately tied with corporate wealth - are not for the people and instead
serve the interests of profits over people.
We
believe that through all of our bodies, the JHBPP should act as a radicalising
force for change, asking the uncomfortable questions and seeking answers that
advance radical transformation.
We
continue to ask, if a pride expresses itself as non-political, if the space and
entrance aren’t free, if profit-driven corporations are sponsors, if there are
VIP areas: then who is this Pride for? We ask who pride is for if it does not
articulate clear anti-wealth politics and does not recognise and work against
the effects of race, class and gender as oppressive forces within all spaces
including those of LGBTIAQ people.
Our
movement believes that diversity of voice and contestation in terms of
ideologies within the broader LGBTIAQ communities is necessary. We do not view
ourselves in competition with other Prides, yet will continue, because of our politics, to be critical
of all Prides, including ourselves.
JHBPP will be Marching on
10:00 AM
Constitution Hill
This
date falls within the 16 days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children.
We will again reclaim this moment as an activist moment and not a moment for
the state and corporate entities to pay lip service, yet again, to our
struggles against violence (while daily committing acts of violence against the
majority of the population).
In
conclusion, our struggle has suffered the restriction of being viewed as a
struggle primarily for the right to be intimate with who we want, without the
fear of harassment and violence, and the rights to be free from violence
directed at us on the basis of our sexual orientation and gender identity. This
movement is one that recognises these two issues as very important in the
experiences of all LGBTIAQ bodies, but also acknowledges and demands the
recognition that the oppressions we experience as LGBTIAQ people are
accompanied and exacerbated by a host of other oppressive forces that restrict
us and others from being alive.
We
strive for the freedom to be, to desire, and to be free from harm.
Aluta
Continua!
The JHB Peoples Pride Organising Committee
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