By Didi Netshiswinzhe
Image by Didi Netshiswinzhe
Spaces specifically catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people are a necessary part of surviving and flourishing in a world made natural for heterosexual and cisgender people. Safe spaces are an escape from the pressures of heteronormativity that provide the queer community with a space of inclusivity, acceptance and community. Despite this, the buy-in from non-queer people isn’t quite there yet.
We live in a world constructed through a patriarchal, racist and heteronormative lens. These ideologies are evident in social institutions like religion or education, both of which have often been vehicles of queer erasure and the spreading of hateful ideas. They are evident in things often taken for granted like bathrooms, representations of love in films or ideas society has about manhood and womanhood.
The undercurrent of heteronormativity is something queer people constantly need to resist. It is the belief that the only natural way of existence is to be heterosexual and cisgender and that anything outside those binaries is abnormal or inferior. This essentialist view pathologizes queerness and pushes LGBTQ+ people to the margins of what is considered normal.
For many queer people, moving through the world can feel like trying to perform to the standards and expectations of heteronormativity. This performance is often the cost of entry to predominantly straight spaces and dictates the shrinking and hiding of queer identity. The stakes of resisting or failing to meet these expectations are anything from homophobic attitudes and rejection to violent, life-threatening events such as hate crimes.
Despite South Africa’s much celebrated Constitution which affords LGBTQ+ people the right to domestic partnership and protection against discrimination on the grounds of their gender identity and sexual orientation, the lived experiences of many queer South Africans don’t live up to the hopes enshrined in the Constitution.
Many attitudes and laws around homosexuality in Africa remain rooted in colonial missionary ideologies that demonise homosexuality and position it as an “unAfrican” Western import. This is reflected in legislation where only 22 out of the 54 African countries have legalised homosexuality. Punishments for queer people and their allies range from imprisonment to the death penalty. Most recently Uganda’s president signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 which criminalises “engaging in acts of homosexuality” and delivers strict punishments to offenders.
African leaders continue to use arguments of African nationalism to justify these hateful laws and ideologies despite several academic studies and historical accounts that affirm that LGBTQ+ people and practices have long existed across the African continent. The consequences are a society widely unaccepting of LGBTQ+ people.
The creation of safe spaces is thus a necessary part of queer life. A queer-centred safe space is typically one created by and for LGBTQ+ people characterised by acceptance and celebration of the diversity of queerness. Safe spaces offer queer people physical and psychological refuge from the confines of heteronormativity and dangers of hate crimes such as violent attacks or corrective rape. Safe spaces also resist erasure and challenge heteronormativity by affirming that queer people do in fact deserve their own spaces in which to feel protected, free and to build community.
Queer safe spaces in Cape Town often take the form of dedicated community groups and events or physical spaces like bars and restaurants. Some notable bars include Beefcakes Burger Bar, The Pink Candy Night Club, Café Manhattan and Zer021 Social Club.
Zer021 Social Club, located in District Six, Cape Town, has for the past eight years been a popular location for queer people from across the city. Roberto de Faria, Zer021’s owner, started the bar to fill a gap for queer people in the night-life space.
“Through my early 20s there was a safe space bar called Rosie’s,” De Faria recalls. “It became such a space for the regulars to hang out, so everyone felt very connected and family-like. I loved it. Suddenly after a few years, it closed down; then we had nowhere else to go.”
Originally based in Green Point, Zer021 became so popular that it moved to a bigger venue. Is inclusive, embracing diversity, which is particularly important to patrons coming from spaces that aren’t welcoming to LGBTQ+ people.
“We have some amazing people from the township travelling all the way here,” De Faria says. “They come here dressed as a masculine boy, only to ask if they can go to the performance change room and then come out all glammed because they can't leave their homes in that identity or that form.”
The loyal support from the LGBTQ+ community in turn places responsibility on De Faria to keep the space as safe and comfortable as possible. Part of this involves controlling access to the space to reduce the risk of patrons facing discrimination. De Faria explains that much of this depends on security and door staff differentiating between people with genuine intentions of enjoying the space and those who may have ulterior motives.
It's a game of discernment, he says, “You can generally tell if a person might be drunk and just looking for a place to drink. It doesn’t mean they’re going to be comfortable with the other interactions within the venue and the dynamics are not going to change because they’re coming in as an outsider.”
Non-queer people in LGBTQ+ safe spaces is a contested issue. As much as allyship is valued, non-queer people often ignore that safe spaces are an escape from heteronormativity and the “straight world”. Many straight women and other allies enjoy queer spaces because they, too, feel safe and comfortable there Yet, their presence in queer spaces undermines and negates how safe and comfortable queer people can feel in the space.
One of De Faria’s hopes for Zer021’s future is for the space to usher in younger drag queens and queer artists. “I don’t want to see drag or any queer art form die,” he says, so he encourages people to take advantage of their platform.
One of Zer021’s regular performers and patrons is Alex Tabisher, a Cape Town-born drag queen and Character Design and Styling lecturer at AFDA. Tabisher started performing drag in 2012 and has also done shows at Bubbles Bar, Beef Cakes and the ABFAB Drag show that recently ran at the Artscape Theatre.
Tabisher’s passions for glamour, fashion and acting led him to delve into the world of drag. “Drag has always been a means of artistic expression,” he explains. “For me it’s always been about playing characters, being an actor and using drag as a vessel for that.”
As with queer safe spaces, drag provides drag queens with the freedom to express their identity safely. Tabisher completed his Masters on the Cape Town coloured drag community and found that many drag queens use the art form as an “escape” from their everyday identities. “Drag for them was a way to be this rich, fabulous woman for a night,” he says.
Tabisher’s experiences of Zer021 and other safe spaces have been empowering, and have provided him with a sense of community. He refers to them as a sort of “headquarters”. “It’s a place for us to go that’s ours and where we are in charge. A place where we aren’t the outsiders for once.”
Safe spaces need to be protected and uplifted by the queer community. Sometimes they are the only spaces where queer people can embrace their whole selves and be in community with others.
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