out adventures image out adventures image
OUT Adventures Gay South Africa

Destination Feature: South Africa


BACKGROUND INFO


Full Name: The Republic of South Africa
Capital City: Pretoria (official); Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).
Area: 1,233,404 sq km
Population: 43,800,000
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +2
Geography: South Africa is a large country, extending nearly 2000km (1240miles) from the Limpopo River in the north to Cape Agulhas in the south and nearly 1500km (930miles) from Port Nolloth in the west to Durban in the east. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland run from west to east along South Africa's northern border. The country can be divided into three major parts: the interior plateau, the Kalahari Basin, and the coastal plain.
Languages: there are 4: Zulu, Swazi, Afrikaans, and English
Religion: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and traditional religions
Government Type: Republic And Independent Member Of The British Commonwealth

Since Nelson Mandela's release, democratic, post-apartheid South Africa is still defining itself, fighting off racism and growing as a stable and leading force in Africa. While Cape Town with its Table Mountain backdrop is a must for any gay traveller: great gay life, nightlife, wonderful restaurants and bars you'll want to get out of the city to experience South Africa to its fullest. There's just so much to do from surfing world class waves, diving the many wrecks off the Cape of Good Hope or sipping your way through wine country. Whether you're walking an endless beach or roaming Kruger in pursuit of the Big five (for the record, that's leopard, lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo), you will leave South Africa with memories to last a lifetime & planning your return trip. Africa just does that to you!

Cape Town - one of the world's great gay capitals!


Cape Town truly appears to have it all: striking Table Mountain as a backdrop, glorious beaches that rival Rio and Sydney, vineyards at its doorstep,and rugged landscapes.

Cape Town is renown for its hospitality with a mix of trendy boutique gay B&B's, restaurants and clubs that match favourably with any other cosmopolitan city. The general feel is open-minded and relaxed but as with any other major city - caution is always recommended.

South Africa Gay Travel Musts:


Clifton Beach
Clifton is an extremely popular hangout for locals and international jet setters - you’re here to be seen and to share space with the latest designer swimwear and sunglasses. Clifton has four beaches called 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th beach with the later having blue flag status, not least because of the turquoise water and white sands. These beaches are Cape Town’s premier beaches, divided by granite boulders and packed with beautiful people in summer. Clifton 3rd is designated a gay beach, although not a nudist beach.

Cape Town Pride
Late February/Early March
A major community festival with a focus on uniting all gay cultures. Over 40 different events planned this year. Generally pride is held in late February, however 2010 dates have not been released yet. See the below video for highlights from the 2009 parade.



Pink Loerie - The only Mardi Gras on the African Continent
30 April - 3rd May 2009
Held in the gay friend town of Knysna. Yes boys, boys and wannabe boys, lipstick lesbians and anyone not afraid of homosexuals – a time to let your hair down, time to party, time to celebrate your sexuality, your sexual freedom, your culture, your constitutional right – your life!
view the Pink Loerie website here

OUT in Africa Film Festival
September, 2010
The Out In Africa South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (OIA) was launched in 1994 to celebrate the inclusion, in the South Africa Constitution, of the clause prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The Festival sets out to address the lack of visibility of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex individuals (LGBTIs) in South African social and cultural life after decades of apartheid repression, to counter negative images of LGBTIs that prevail in traditional and religious communities, and to serve as a platform for discussion and debate about the situation of LGBTIs in a newly founded democracy.
view the Pink Loerie website here

A NOTE ABOUT CIVIL UNIONS & GAY MARRIAGE IN SOUTH AFRICA


South Africa granted unregistered cohabitation in 1999. The decisions recognized same-sex partnerships in immigration in 1999. They granted same-sex couples the same financial status as married heterosexual partners in 2002 and in the same year allowed adoption by same-sex couples. South Africa entitled same-sex couples to the same financial benefits as unmarried cohabiting heterosexual couples in 2003. In July 2002, the High Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional and paved the road towards Civil Unions and Gay Marriage.

In 2004 the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in favour of same-sex marriage. The case had been brought by Marie Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys, a lesbian couple seeking the right to marry. In the ruling, Judge Edwin Cameron stated that the definition of marriage should be altered to read: "Marriage is the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others for life."

In December 2005, the government made an amendment to the Civil Unions Bill, changing it to permit the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or a civil union."

Finally on November 30, 2006 Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka signed it into law a day before same-sex marriage would have been legalised by court order.

The first couple to be legally married were Vernon Gibbs and Tony Halls. Today South Africa is amongst a handful of countries in the world where gay men and women can legally marry.


South Africa is one of our favourite destinations and we hope to welcome you on one of our three upcoming trips:


South Africa Experience
September 10, 2009
October 22, 2009 (for Bears and their admirers)
December 17, 2009 (New Years in Cape Town)