Before... President Jacob Zuma, before he was elected, said that "When I was growing up, unqingili (homosexuals) could not stand in front of me. I would knock him out." He later apologised for the remark.
The insult... Lulu Xingwana, Arts and Culture Minister, stormed out of the exhibition, Innovative Women, before making a scheduled speech, saying, "Our mandate is to promote social cohesion and nation-building. I left the exhibition because it expressed the very opposite of this. It was immoral, offensive and going against nation-building." She went on to say it was time for "a long overdue debate on what is art and where do we draw the line between art and pornography."
Afterward... Although Xingwana denies this, three insiders told The Times that after the department’s lawyers found nothing pornographic about the art, she then called in lawyers from a Pretoria law firm to “inspect” the work. Insiders said they were flown to Cape Town for the opening of the exhibition there to decide whether the art was “suitable as art or not”. Defending herself, Xingwana said, "In my mind, these were not works of art, but crude misrepresentations of women masquerading as artworks rather than engaged in questioning or interrogating, which is what I believe art is about. Those particular works of art stereotyped black women."
Zanele Muholi, activist and artist, said, in response to the minister's statements, "It's paralysing. I expected people to think before they act, and to ask questions. I wanted to create dialogue." She said, "People from outside of South Africa envy us for our Constitution. But in South Africa there is so much homophobia. We are given the platform to speak, but there is no action to match the words. It is a betrayal."
Busisiwe Kheswa, director Foundation for the Empowerment of Women (Few), asks, "Will there be a retraction, or a public apology? The lack of apology makes it look like the government is supportive of homophobia, when in fact they are supposed to be custodians of the Constitution."
The insult... Lulu Xingwana, Arts and Culture Minister, stormed out of the exhibition, Innovative Women, before making a scheduled speech, saying, "Our mandate is to promote social cohesion and nation-building. I left the exhibition because it expressed the very opposite of this. It was immoral, offensive and going against nation-building." She went on to say it was time for "a long overdue debate on what is art and where do we draw the line between art and pornography."
Afterward... Although Xingwana denies this, three insiders told The Times that after the department’s lawyers found nothing pornographic about the art, she then called in lawyers from a Pretoria law firm to “inspect” the work. Insiders said they were flown to Cape Town for the opening of the exhibition there to decide whether the art was “suitable as art or not”. Defending herself, Xingwana said, "In my mind, these were not works of art, but crude misrepresentations of women masquerading as artworks rather than engaged in questioning or interrogating, which is what I believe art is about. Those particular works of art stereotyped black women."
Zanele Muholi, activist and artist, said, in response to the minister's statements, "It's paralysing. I expected people to think before they act, and to ask questions. I wanted to create dialogue." She said, "People from outside of South Africa envy us for our Constitution. But in South Africa there is so much homophobia. We are given the platform to speak, but there is no action to match the words. It is a betrayal."
Busisiwe Kheswa, director Foundation for the Empowerment of Women (Few), asks, "Will there be a retraction, or a public apology? The lack of apology makes it look like the government is supportive of homophobia, when in fact they are supposed to be custodians of the Constitution."
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