GALA Mission Statement
The advancement, development and rights of LGBTI people depend on an accurate record and representation of their struggles. GALA mobilises memory by documenting and popularizing the lives and histories of LGBTI South Africans. In so doing it contributes to the development of pride, challenges homophobia and entrenches the rights of LGBTI people.
GALA Office and Archive Hours
Monday to Friday
9 am - 5 pm
Community Library Hours
Tuesday 1 – 4
Saturday 2 – 4:30
Contact Us
+27 11 717 4239
Fax: +27 11 717 1783
info@gala.co.za
GALA is a member of the Joint Working Group (JWG), a national network of LGTBI focused organisations in South Africa.
PHOTO GALLERIES
Click on the images below or go to Photo Galleries to view photographs of GALA events and images from our archival collections.
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The Remembrance Wall Pride 2008 in Johannesburg & Soweto by Elsie Abraham (visiting Canadian volunteer), October 4, 2008 |
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The team, with GALA spearheading, decided that it would be more beneficial to all involved if the wall gave individuals a voice to members of the community. The hope was that it would be a forum for dialogue, particularly on the issue of hate crimes perpetrated against LGBTI people in Johannesburg, Soweto and elsewhere in South Africa. The theme of Pride 2008 was “Love, not hate.”
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On September 27th the wall was taken into Credo Mutwa Park for the Soweto Pride March, and set out to get people talking and expressing their ideas by signing a cloth and leaving a message or a few words about their impressions on the experience of the day, the situation with regards to hate crimes or other ongoing issues affecting the LGBTI community. The response was very positive, and reactions poured in. From messages of hope, pride, support, and love, to poems, to prayers, to shout-outs; the cloth filled-up before the day was over. Several people were quite vocal about the latest wave of hate crimes and violence sustained by victims of the South African LGBTI communities, especially among members of the black community. Some people were even discussing organising a protest demonstration to take place outside of the local court, during the ongoing trial of a group of young men involved a gang attack on a black lesbian from a township. Issues like these continue to haunt the families of victims and has community members living in a state of fear for their lives. The thoughts collected on the wall help put things in perspective and they speak to the resilience of the South African LGBTI community and its tentative hope in the judicial system to uphold the fundamental human rights that are guaranteed by the constitution. |
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On October 4th, the day of the Johannesburg Pride Parade, people had a chance to bring mementos and artefacts to leave at the wall, and to have their photograph taken, to leave as a contribution to the wall along with messages, adding their personal touch to a collective vision and this undertaking of capturing and documenting present-day queer history in South Africa. These memories will be archived at GALA to benefit everybody and keep the history alive. With the emphasis for this project being on the community's reactions and response to hate crimes, the atmosphere was set for reflection and to incite action. Again, the space on the wall filled-up rapidly and there were shows of solidarity between people who only attended the “mainstream” Johannesburg Pride parade and folks who had also attend Soweto Pride day. The joining of Soweto and Johannesburg Pride celebrations and the Remembrance Wall are crucial both from a historical, cathartic and catalytic point of view, with burning issues such as hate crimes effecting the community. |
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Case in point, some members of the white lesbian community and a few white gay men showed their solidarity with Black queer Soweto Pride goers by making a point to attend only that march. There was even a short but very passionate vocal ad dress made by Carie Shelver of People Opposed to Women Abuse (POWA), about the politics issues surrounding the two separate pride celebrations and that highlight the existing division between the two communities along racial lines. |
However, both the cloth signed in Soweto and the images, messages and artefacts collected at least partially accomplished the goal of opening up dialogue between the various fragments of the whole queer community when it comes to hate crimes against them. Both pride events were well attended and as a result, both parts of the Remembrance Wall project received overwhelming responses from all who were present from the LGBTI community in general, including the many community organisations working at the grassroots level around human rights and legal and policy issues who set up displays and information booths. The Johannesburg Pride organisation is larger than Soweto Pride, but this did not necessarily translate into a sense of inclusiveness for everyone present. A dialogue of inclusiveness may not be an official policy, but is something that might be very effective in the future. |
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Ultimately the pride week celebrations helped combat discrimination against all people based on race, gender identity and sexual orientation in South Africa by opening up a space for celebrating difference. At the end of the day, there is hope that one will eventually see all of the positive results in the form of influence on LGBTI rights in neighbouring African countries. Having a constitution and a solid judicial system to fight things such as hate crimes is a great foundation. Exercises like the Remembrance Wall help in smaller ways to set the stage for and even become models of awareness-raising and education campaigns designed to alter society's perceptions about queer people. |
