Securing Pride: Sexuality, Security and the Post-Apartheid State
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Livermon, X. 2018. Securing Pride: Sexuality, Security
stability and the Post-Apartheid State. Stability: International
Journal of Security & Development, 7(1): 12, pp. 1–14.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.607
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Securing Pride: Sexuality, Security and the
Post-Apartheid State
Xavier Livermon
This paper explores the contestation that emerges between state security
providers and communities in hybrid security situations. Rather than focusing on
the failures of the state, the article explores how communities use contested
(in)securities to create forms of security for themselves. The article argues for
Soweto Pride as an example of vernacular security for black LGBT+ populations in
Johannesburg. Ultimately, what is enivisioned is an expansive concept of security
that considers cultural practices, space making, and communal formations as cen-
tral to its formation.
Introduction in their appropriation of public space.
In 2016, the City of Johannesburg and the Vernacular security encompasses not only
South African Police Service (SAPS) would the argument that security is discursively
not grant the organizers of one of the larg- and socially constructed, but also the idea
est queer Pride events in Africa authority to that solutions to (in)security lie in communal
host their 12th annual event. Soweto Pride, formations and responses (Jarvis and Lister
which is about advocating for and celebrat- 2013; Luckham and Kirk 2013). The 2015
ing achievements in the attainment of Soweto Pride itself functioned as a practice
equal rights, was determined by the security of security in its effort to provide spaces of
forces to pose a potential physical security safety, freedom, acceptance, and affirmation
threat to citizens. This step exemplified the for the performance and expression of black
complex and contested relationships that LGBT+ identities. The strategies by which the
exist between the state security providers 2015 Soweto Pride worked to accomplish
and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender this suggests that scholars might decentral-
(LGBT+) community in South Africa.1 ize state-level conceptions and practices of
In this article, the 2015 Soweto Pride is security and instead begin to shift analyti-
offered as a case study in vernacular secu- cal focus towards the everyday practices and
rity. Drawing on Bubandt’s (2004 and 2005) strategies by which vulnerable and margin-
concept of vernacular security, this article alized groups, such as black LGBT+ South
explores the repertoire of strategies that par- Africans, deploy their own conceptions and
ticipants at the 2015 Soweto Pride deployed practices of security. Such an approach is
to negotiate issues of safety and freedom needed to illuminate the semiotic, discur-
sive, and social fields which nurture and
provide space for black LGBT+ identity for-
University of Texas at Austin, US mation and performance. In demonstrating
livermon@utexas.edu how black LGBT+ people construct SowetoArt. 12, page 2 of 14 Livermon: Securing Pride
Pride as a form of security configured and informal interviewing that draws attention to
deployed around specific symbolic, social, how my body as a self-identifying black queer
and geographic concerns, the agency and man shaped my relation to my field sites and
creativity of black LGBT+ South Africans in my reception in these sites (Madison 2011).
developing and enacting their own strategies My body facilitated my myriad and diverse
of security is highlighted. experiences, even as my shared subjectivity
was impacted by my foreign nationality and
Approach and methodology status as a researcher.
Since the spread of the human security The events of the 2015 Soweto Pride serve
concept in the late 1990s, there has been as an example of what I refer to as ‘making
increased recognition of the centrality of space’. Throughout my scholarship on black
the individual, as opposed to the state, as queer South African life, I developed the con-
a referent in security analyses. This arti- cept of ‘making space’ to theorize how black
cle approaches understanding the security queer people, living under multiple forms
challenges of a vulnerable and minority
of disempowerment and marginalization,
social group, not by focusing on the risks strategically labor to delineate discursive,
they face as potential victims, but rather by practical, and geographic spaces that are at
understanding the agency and strategies of once liberating and affirmative, while at the
such communities in circumscribing, pro- same time, afford a type of visibility for their
ducing, and managing their own identities. lives and their identities (see Livermon 2012
The events of Soweto Pride represent a and 2014). My concept of ‘making space’ as
locally configured form of security as the it relates to black queer life goes beyond
event organizers appropriate spaces that physical geography because it foregrounds
allow participants to perform and explore how black queer people and communities
their identities in a safe and affirming man- strategically activate geographies – whether
ner. Thus, beyond the visible measures of pro- a church, night club, or neighborhood – to
tection, some of which engage state actors delineate a field of discourse and social
and some that do not, Soweto Pride itself is a praxis that is both meaningful to those who
strategic deployment of security to allow the are engaged in its production, and protected
safe performance, expression, production, from exogenous threats.
and reproduction of black LGBT+ identities. While my concept of ‘making space’
Black LGBT+ South Africans engage in eve- depends upon a geographical specific-
ryday mechanisms to help create a sense of ity – whether it be a neighborhood or a
safety and security for themselves – warning nation-state – I deploy space to theorize the
each other about dangerous areas, prescrib- discursive, social, and cultural delineations
ing certain dress codes for certain areas, and that black queer people make as they nego-
recommending appropriate response during tiate their own desires amidst intrusions
and after homophobic violence. Since there and threats, both physical and discursive, to
are no exclusively and geographically-based their personhood and collective citizenship.
black LGBT+ communities, there is nothing Resistance, identity, and geography have
analogous to a neighborhood watch. Thus, been central notions in queer scholarship,
Soweto Pride constitutes its own temporary especially in the scholarship on queer South
geographic neighborhood that functions African life (see Msibi 2012; Matebeni 2011
to provide a type of policing within its geo- and 2013). As agents in the creation of their
graphical and temporal borders. own spaces, my ethnographic research illumi-
nates how black queer South Africans deploy
Soweto Pride as Performance vernacular security to maintain the bounda-
The methodology deployed for this study ries – both real and imagined, discursive and
centered on performance ethnography, a physical — of their space and to protect it
type of situated participant-observation and from perceived threats. My observations andLivermon: Securing Pride Art. 12, page 3 of 14
analysis draw attention to the ways in which expand transnationally to exploit a growing
the events of the 2015 Soweto Pride provide African middle class.
examples of the ways in which black queer Key to the settlement negotiation was
South Africans engage, disengage, circumvent, the idea that the post-apartheid major-
reject, and reconfigure the types of the secu- ity government, stewarded by the African
rity that the South African government makes National Congress (ANC), would ensure secu-
available to its black and queer citizens. In the rity in a post-transition South Africa. While
ethnographic descriptions and discussion that adopting a rhetorical rights-based approach
follow, it is important that we not simply see to safety and security in the Constitution
black queer South Africans as victims of inse- and key legislation, this has not translated
curity; rather, we should view them as pro- into improved security for all South Africans.
ducers of their own notions of security who What has largely remained unresolved (or
strategically negotiate, c hallenge, and critique unchanged), is for whom the state guaran-
the securities made available to them by the tees safety and security. Critical theorists
South African state. would suggest that safety and security has
been achieved for the machinations of global
Securing South Africa capital, thus leaving the majority of South
In contemporary South Africa, security has Africans living in constant insecurity (see
emerged as a key word in the post-apartheid Bond 2014). Hence, the ANC government
state. Insecurity was a marked feature of the can paradoxically claim that it is represent-
declining years of the National Party (NP) ing the interests of South Africa while also
government, particularly from the late 1980s using deadly force, for example, to repress
to the 1994 election. Near revolutionary con- worker dissidence as happened at Marikana
ditions created by internal dissent fueled dif- in August 2012. The ANC has struggled to
ferent forms of state reprisal and repression balance the needs of global capital with
(Wolpe 1990). These forms of state repres- those of social transformation and maintain-
sion, while not new, took on a different ing investor confidence has become tied to
interpretative character as South Africa was its ability to manage labor, and by proxy the
positioned internationally as a pariah state black majority population. The use of vio-
that could no longer claim moral author- lence and coercion to manage exploitative
ity in relation to state sponsored violence labor practices has long been near the heart
both within and outside its borders (Vale of racial inequality in South Africa.
and Taylor 1999; Pfister 2005). Its last gasp Many activists and scholars do not see the
of international legitimacy as the bulwark actions of the state as justifiable; instead,
against communism ceased to be a sufficient they suggest that the state has been cap-
cause for racial oppression post-1989. tured by corporate capital and guarantees
By the late 1980s, the NP, rocked by the safety and security of those interests
internal dissent and increasingly unable above all others (see Chinguno 2013; Bond
to govern, began seeking a negotiated 2013). The tension inherent in how security
settlement. The technocratic elites within
is defined and by whom is a central debate
the NP, influenced by neoliberal ideologies in discussions of legitimacy and authority in
and seeking to maintain the operations of South Africa. While at a macro-level in South
global and local capital, realized that politi- African society, this security debate can be
cal representation of the black majority had defined by race and class with white peo-
become an obstacle to achieving this goal. ple and wealthy people more able to access
Importantly, this approach was in line with security (and not necessarily through the
consumer business interests in South Africa state). However, there is little consideration
that had long pressed for a relaxation of for how these divides manifest along other
apartheid laws in order to nurture a black societal fault lines and how other groups and
middle class that would buy its products and sub-groups within society are affected.Art. 12, page 4 of 14 Livermon: Securing Pride
With respect to queer rights, the post- Created in 1927, in response to legislation
apartheid state has taken significant steps separating ‘natives’ from white areas of the
to guarantee and safeguard the rights of the city and to cater for the thousands of l aborers
LGBT+ community. What Thomas Boellstorff flocking to the vibrant gold economy, Soweto
(2005) describes as ‘political homophobia’ is still home to 30–40% of the city’s popula-
has not been a central tenet of the post- tion, many of whom still live in conditions of
apartheid state and South Africa seems to extreme deprivation.
have escaped the transnational development During the months of September and
and flow of homophobic discourse that has October, there are Pride celebrations in and
come to characterize queer issues on the around Johannesburg. Pride functions as a
continent. Weiss and Botha (2013) argue unique combination of politics and commerce
that transnational spread of homophobic as well as offering geographies of visibility
discourse has produced similar, if not some- and spaces of pleasure. The multiple Pride
times even identical, political vocabularies celebrations attract slightly different crowds
around issues of sexual difference. In the but there is an overlap in constituencies and
South African case, the state suggests that communities served. Importantly, the Pride
far from punishing and disciplining its queer events tend to combine a march/parade cel-
population, it would rather prefer to act as ebration, and a political element. Participants
guarantor and protector. must be willing to enter into the space as
However, LGBT+ life in South Africa is far political sexual subjects. Peripheral events
from ideal. According to a 2017 report from not attached to the official Pride parade –
Centre for Risk Analysis at the South African such as house parties and after-parties – tend
Institute of Race Relations, four out of ten to attract a more diverse and larger crowd
LGBT South Africans know of someone who of people, who want to participate in cel-
has been murdered for being or suspected ebratory spaces with LGBT+ people, but who
of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgen- might eschew public political identification
der. Black LGBT+ people are twice as likely as a member of the community.
(49%) as white respondents (26%) to know In the spirit of grassroots activism and com-
someone who was murdered for these rea- munal support, Soweto Pride encouraged
sons. What framework for analyzing security participants to bring their own drinks, food,
might be helpful in this case, and how might and music to the first event in 2004. Over
that framework inform our discussions the years, the event has grown from a rela-
concerning LGBT+ rights continent wide? tively small local gathering to a major social
Rather than focus solely on the failures of calendar event featuring numerous official,
the state, it is equally useful to investigate and unofficial, corollary events. Despite
how communities affected by (in)security this growth, the event has maintained its
create their own forms of securitization. grassroots accessibility and has eschewed
Considering securing and security responses commercial sponsorship.
to the Soweto Pride provides fertile ground
to further explore these issues. Soweto Pride as Vernacular Security
From its very inception, Soweto Pride was
Presenting Soweto Pride oriented toward producing forms of ver-
Soweto Pride is a series of events centered nacular security that responded to and
around LGBT+ affirmation, culture, and com- resisted the types of (in)security offered by
munity organizing that takes place annually the South African state. The Forum for the
in Soweto – the South West Townships of Empowerment of Women (FEW) started
Johannesburg. Soweto has a population of Soweto Pride in 2004. FEW was organized by
nearly 1.3 million people, more than 98% black lesbians and gender non-conforming
of whom identify as black South Africans.2 women to address the issues surroundingLivermon: Securing Pride Art. 12, page 5 of 14
violence against black lesbian women in annual Pride events held in majority black
township areas. Numerous high-profile spaces in South Africa. To attend queer
cases around the country, including in the Pride events, one had to enter predomi-
Johannesburg area, revealed the intersect- nantly white spaces in the wealthier, and
ing vulnerabilities of black lesbian and gen- traditionally white, northern suburbs. As
der non-conforming women particularly discussed elsewhere (see Livermon 2014),
in township spaces, where most lived and the lack of explicit black queer space in the
socialized. From 2000–2014, there had been townships of Johannesburg did not mean
at least 31 murders linked with female sexual that black LGBT+ populations were absent.
preferences and an average of 10 lesbians Rather, black LGBT+ populations found
had been raped per week to “correct” their creative ways to repurpose or reuse hetero-
sexual preferences (Strudwick 2014). sexual space; and in so doing, revealed how
township space is specifically inhabited and
Creating safe spaces marked as black and heterosexual.
Soweto Pride was about providing safe
spaces for black LGBT+ visibility (especially Political claims to safe space
for black LGBT+ women) in township areas Soweto Pride was about making a political
as well as creating forms of political visibility claim to space – specifically, a right to the
for black LGBT+ citizens in black communi- township space for black LGBT+ people. As a
ties. Soweto Pride was a combination of a claim to a right to exist in place, Soweto Pride
demand for visibility, the recognition of the was not, therefore, about the racialization of
humanity of black queer people, and a call to the white queer space, the queering of black
the community to acknowledge the right to heterosexual space, or the racialized, sexu-
safety and security as black LGBT individuals alization of white heterosexual space. It was
(particularly black LGBT women) navigated instead about creating a specific black queer
social space. Central to the endeavors of the space articulated to portions of the city that
Pride celebration was also the call to create are materially and representationally coded
political pressure on what was considered as black. If the township is coded as the space
indifferent or hostile police prosecution of of insecurity for black queers (particularly
numerous crimes committed against black black queer women), what might it mean for
LGBT+ individuals. The political praxis of black queer women to publicly declare their
FEW fostered the idea that because the vio- sexuality and gender non-conformity on the
lence against black lesbian and gender non- streets of Soweto? What discursive and politi-
conforming women was explicitly gendered, cal work do such public declarations and
the political response to that violence needed claiming of spaces accomplish?
to be gendered. The formation of FEW also The 2015 edition of Pride was a renewal
tacitly recognized that the already existing to a call for political action. Beginning in
women’s organizations and LGBT organiza- Credo Mutwa Park in 2004, the Pride cel-
tions possessed insufficient capacity to deal ebration had shifted to various locations
with this problem of gendered, sexualized, around Soweto. Due to renovations at the
and racial violence. Women’s organizations Credo Mutwa facility, the event returned
did not seem to fully address sexuality, while to Meadowlands Park Zone 2, near the
LGBT organizations were unwilling to suffi- Meadowlands Police Station in 2015. The
ciently address racialized gender.3 location was symbolic: in July 2007, Sizakele
The creation of Soweto Pride was a pro- Sigasa and Salome Masooa were raped, tor-
cess of space making for members of South tured and murdered in Meadowlands in one
Africa’s black LGBT+ community, espe- of the many unresolved attacks on lesbian
cially those who reside in townships. Prior women. It is important to note that FEW’s
to Soweto Pride, there were no sustained security concerns were related to the stateArt. 12, page 6 of 14 Livermon: Securing Pride requirements for event security as well as to punished for violating the codes of prescrip- the larger issues of townships insecurity. In a tive masculinity. journalistic account, the advocacy coordina- tor for FEW, Siphokazi Nombande, claimed Entering safe spaces that the return to Meadowlands was meant What does it mean for a few hours, on a to place renewed pressure on the police bright and warm Saturday afternoon, for to solve the murders and bring additional black queers to have the safety and secu- attention to sexuality based hate crimes in rity of space in the township? As black South Africa (Mamba 2015). queers march through Soweto demanding A large march was held through the main justice for lost lives, they are escorted by a streets of Soweto, along with a political pro- police patrol. For once, the state ensures gram that was based on the theme of “Our their safety and security. Black queers were Lives Matter: Safety, Justice, and Freedom safe at the park next to the police station. Are Our Rights.” The Pride celebration itself The municipality had employed minders was highly accessible, located in a park that to observe the proceedings and ensure the did not charge admission. Participants were flow of participants in and out of the space, encouraged to bring lawn chairs, picnic bas- but next to the police station the black LGBT kets and coolers for their own drinks. Most of population could safely gather. As thousands the booths featured non-governmental and of predominantly young black queers, repre- governmental organizations handing out senting a diverse array of stylistic presenta- information, along with a few small business tions of gender and sexuality, congregated owners and entrepreneurs selling various gay in the park next to the police station, they Pride merchandise, ranging from stickers to took pleasure in one another’s visibility. t-shirts. Absent in the space were commercial They watched black queer women give vendors representing larger corporations. speeches and perform, they received infor- Held during the day, the event was heavily mation about available services they could attended by young black women, who made access from other black queer women, they up the majority of the crowd. watched feminine black queer men twist and The key component to Soweto Pride was twirl on stage. They formed and participated the march through the main streets of in community. Importantly, this was a space Soweto and the political program/picnic in that, because of its central public location Meadowlands Park. Both events were signifi- and daytime activity, was open and available cant for the way in which they reimagined for black queer youth. the township space for a few hours as a space As I entered the space I was struck at of vernacular security for queer men and how the space skewed toward black queer women. Much of the violence experienced women and their presence in space. While by black queers is explicitly gendered in that queer spaces tend to be divided by gender, black gender non-conforming and black les- Soweto Pride has increasingly become a bian women remove their bodies from cer- space that accommodates female bodies and tain prescriptions of masculine control, while non-gender conforming spaces. I was quickly black gender non-conforming queer men reminded of how urban space is constantly reveal the artifice and construction of mas- fraught for women and that rarity of black culinity. Much of the violence experienced women occupying public space. I saw young, by black queer women, then, is an attempt carefree black women engaging one another by black men to reassert masculine control in socially intimate ways: kissing, holding and patriarchal privilege over women who hands publicly, and smiling, flirting with each dare to explicitly perform their gender and other. Expressing their sexuality and sexual sexuality in ways that mark their bodies as desire publicly as any other young person unavailable for male pleasure. On the other might on a warm spring afternoon in a pub- hand, black gender non-conforming men are lic park. Knowing how rare this occurrence
Livermon: Securing Pride Art. 12, page 7 of 14
was, I experienced the space as welcoming hipsters and foreign tourists, mingled in
and accepting of difference, accommodating an upscale Soweto nightclub. As discussed
of all different kinds of black LGBT bodies. As elsewhere (see Livermon 2006), the Rock
a result, black queer men were there as well also allowed black LGBT+ South Africans to
in all their difference, but unlike other Pride claim and repurpose heterosexualized space.
events, they did not dominate the space. Hence, the Rock was known as a place of fluid
While the queer space of Johannesburg is sexuality and contact between black hetero-
often divided by gender, I saw this predomi- sexual and black queer South Africans as well
nantly woman-centered space was capable as between black and white South Africans
of accommodating men as an experience of and between South Africans and foreigners.
possibility and solidarity. Safety and security Over the years, the club had ceased to oper-
was predicated on the creation of space that ate on a regular basis and now functioned
could accommodate difference, particularly only to host special events. One of those
differently sexualized and gendered black special events was the official after-party of
women. Importantly, the state offered both Soweto Pride.
explicit and less explicit markers of sup- Tickets for the party sold for between 50
port for the forms of security present. And and 80 ZAR (approximately 4–6 USD). These
yet within the securitized space of Pride, a prices were in keeping with admission prices
vernacular security was created that empha- at many clubs and bars in Johannesburg.
sized belonging, hospitality and liberty as While not exorbitant, the entry fee would
identified by Jarvis and Lister (2013) as being be beyond the reach of someone without
among central pillars of vernacular security regular employment or a parental allowance.
in everyday experience. What also must be factored in is that there
is little nighttime transportation in Soweto,
Exploring the made spaces so nightlife for those without a car or access
Contrary to the first Soweto Pride, where the to a ride is always a negotiation. Many young
after-party events were held in local homes people will arrange carpools or walk home
and black LGBT+ people migrated to nearby in groups to provide some form of security
taverns, several targeted after-party events after a night of partying. The ability to walk
have since emerged. These events attempt in home from a nightclub space, though, is
various ways to capture the “Pink Rand”4 and heavily gendered as women rarely take the
to commodify black LGBT+ identity in town- risk of walking home, even when accompa-
ship space. In the absence of a regularly oper- nied by males. Hence, the location, the tim-
ated black gay/lesbian club in Soweto, the ing, the cover charge, as well as the price for
rise of these after-parties requires a nuanced drinks, would be among various factors for
and complex engagement with understand- those considering attending this party.
ing what kinds of politics can and do emerge Because of the parameters described above,
from being recognized as a market. it is no surprise that the crowd skewed older
and better resourced, and yet it was still pre-
The official after party dominantly comprised of women appearing
Research revealed that the spaces of after- to be in their 20s and 30s. They were a fash-
parties provided a more heightened sense of ionable and well-dressed crowd, certainly
the forms of vernacular security that func- better attired than many of the young peo-
tion in township spaces. This is illustrated ple who earlier at the park had been in casual
well by the “official” after-party of Soweto dress. There were two forms of security. First,
Pride, which was hosted at the ‘Rock’, located there were security car guards who watched
in the local neighborhood of Moroka. In the over the parking lot and made sure that the
early 2000s, the Rock had emerged as a key attendee’s cars were safe and undisturbed
site of nighttime conviviality where mixtures by potential thieves. While not officially
of Sowetan citizens, accompanied by white part of their job description, they also keptArt. 12, page 8 of 14 Livermon: Securing Pride
an eye on the general security in the park- – everything from finding a tailor for your
ing lot areas outside the club. The Rock also next dress to a lead on a government job
has a long history of informal partying that can be procured in nightlife space (Grazian
occurs outside the club itself. With individu- 2008) (Hunter 2010). Hence, it allows for a
als barbecuing and others pumping music laxity of strict social mores. The pleasure of
out of the sound systems of their cars, the nightlife is in pushing boundaries and in
outdoor space surrounding the club was just building community.
as festive, if not more so, on some occasions For many of the women in the space, the
as the inside of the club. The vibrant outdoor after-party might be one of the few ‘safe
area means that people can bring their own spaces’ where they can experience and
drinks to an area in proximity to the club express public desire for other women, free
and avoid having to buy more expensive from the gaze of heterosexual men. While
drinks from inside the club. This established belonging, hospitality, and liberty were all
pattern was salient on this evening, with an part of the space, there was also a sense of
informal party occurring outside the venue equality, a sense of being able to experience
and those outside extended the black queer the same rights of pleasure and sensual com-
space created by the venue to the surround- munion that heterosexuals routinely expe-
ing streets and parking lot around the club. rience in their youth. Black queer women
The parking lot attendants (all of whom were rarely get this opportunity in public space.
men) were responsible for managing the On this night, in this space, in this moment,
outdoor festivities. black queer women defined sensuality and
Secondly, there was security that deter- pleasure for themselves.
mined who would be allowed admission, and
these men generally kept an eye on happen- Unofficial and appropriated spaces
ings inside the club. In a mirror to the day’s Spaces temporarily appropriated as ‘queer’
earlier events, the non-state security actors for Pride events illuminate some of the most
provided their services for the protection and engaging productions of vernacular security.
enhancement of safety and security for black A bar located in Mapetla, a towship within
LGBT+ South Africans. An important differ- Soweto with less middle class roots than
ence, however, was the commodified nature Moroka, is typical of Sowetan shebeens – local
of the arrangement. While security was no informal taverns. What differentiated the
longer provided by the state, private security Mapetla shebeen from the official after party
created a sense of safety for the attendees. was that the crowd seemed to be entirely
There was also perhaps the psychological comprised of black queer men. The compara-
impact of safety by numbers, in that the tives in locations reproduced some of the
large constellation of black queer women social divides existent in the Johannesburg
demarcated the space and made the viola- black LGBT+ community more broadly. A
tion of that space and the temporary safety local health organization was advertising its
it provided, impossible. services and handing out packages of con-
The nightclub space as a venue allows for doms and lubricant, which suggested that
large groups of strangers to come together, the party and venue was a known part of
while also delineating the public that might community life, and that local health organi-
constitute its space. In this sense, it functions zations saw the party as an opportunity to
as a public-private venue. Nightlife itself is a reach men who have sex with men.5
space where people are often performing However, gender was not the only
alternative versions of the self, taking pleas- significant difference from the previous
ure in the escape from the everyday. Yet it party space. Class differences were appar-
also is a space where various forms of social ent, given the more casual dress (that in
arrangements can be made and remade many ways replicated the attire from earlierLivermon: Securing Pride Art. 12, page 9 of 14 in the day), the lack of cover charge, and the The Pride Parade and its subsequent after- cheaper drink prices. It also could be said parties mark an important instance of space that security, such that it existed, was less making with both racialized and sexualized visible. There were no guards patrolling the dimensions. Pride events are important forms parked cars, the club had no dedicated park- of cultural labor that are politicized due to ing spaces, and patrons parked on the streets the invisibility and indifference with which surrounding the club in typical township black LGBT+ people must navigate their daily fashion. And yet there were few cars there in lives. Important sociopolitical events such relation to the numbers of people inside. By as those described above, reframe everyday my own estimation, the number of cars was forms of violence and invisibility. This prac- less than a fourth of the number of cars at tice of space making is a form of vernacular the Rock. This is not to suggest black queer security in which geographic space may be women are more economically resourced temporarily appropriated to provide a geo- than black queer men. Instead, the classed graphic, symbolic, and discursive space for locations of the clubs themselves serviced the formation, performance, and expression different kinds of black queer people. It of LGBT+ identity. Space making, then, is a is also important to point out that, in gen- crucial form of labor in which black LGBT+ eral, black queer women (even those of the South Africans engage to articulate their middle class) have fewer women-dominated own concepts and strategies of security. spaces to congregate, and the Soweto Pride after-party would be a more important event Securing Pride Spaces on the social calendar for black queer women The controversy over the cancelation of the than similarly situated events occurring for 2016 Soweto Pride highlighted the collisions black queer men. that can occur between vernacular securi- The only security was a search performed ties and state-level security. These collisions by a guard before one could be permitted illuminate the vulnerability of black LGBT+ into the entry area of the club. After being people to broader social dynamics and to searched and once inside though, the poli- their institutional and civic allies. tics of joy that encapsulated much of the day According to the organizers, the 2016 Pride were on display here in this space. This poli- was cancelled due to state coercion enforced tics centered on a privileging of freely per- by the South African Police Service (SAPS) formative sexuality, and a pleasure around and backed by Emergency Medical Services, a sense of community and belonging in Disaster Management, Johannesburg Metro their own township landspace. The joy and Police, and Public Order Police. From FEW’s pleasure of being able to participate in a perspective, the coercion took two forms. Pride celebration in their own communities First, the event was upgraded to a higher risk (something that would not be true if they category, from low risk to medium risk. This participated in the larger, more publicized required the organizers to hire more police Johannesburg Pride) was a source of Pride, and security details, despite the fact that pleasure, and joy, as township space could SAPS could not cite specifically the forms of be temporarily appropriated for the affirma- disruption and unruliness that required this tion and celebration of LGBT+ community upgrade. For FEW, the upgraded risk category formation. Importantly, this was a space that would mean an additional 22 Johannesburg younger, less well-resourced black queer Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) men could access given both its location and officers, 300 marshalls, and 80 security prices. Perhaps the lack of security was in rec- guards at a prohibitive cost of 146,000 Rand. ognition of the materiality of the space and Secondly, SAPS also suggested that the group the lack of material wealth present, and the orient the Pride away from its inclusive favoring of free expression. measures that I have outlined above, which
Art. 12, page 10 of 14 Livermon: Securing Pride
included holding the Pride in accessible events, transportation was also an issue.
space during the day (while transport is still Twitter commentary from a variety of attend-
running), not charging admission, and allow- ees remarked that the event felt like attend-
ing community members to bring their own ing a European Pride event, making some
provisions into the space. Authorities had black attendees feel like strangers in their
demanded that FEW charge an entrance fee own land. Excluded from Jo’burg Pride, black
as a means of crowd control, obtain a liquor queer people, who are not privileged with
license for alcohol to be sold at the venue. means, are now also left without the Soweto
The organization pointed out that these con- Pride festivities.
ditions go against the ethos of accessibility. Ironically, the decision made by Jo’burg
The authorities wanted to ban cooler boxes Pride to hold the event in Melrose Arch
in order to limit the intake of alcohol and was a result of the same constraints placed
thus minimize the ‘risk of chaos’ (see Forum on the Soweto Pride organizers by the City
for the Empowerment of Women 2016). of Johannesburg, Emergency Services and
For their own part, FEW points to the SAPS. Jo’burg Pride organizers specifically
increasing state distrust and attempts to cited the untenable costs of hosting open air
manage protest and dissent as being at the accessible Prides as the reason for the reloca-
heart of these measures (De Barros 2016). tion to Melrose Arch instead of other venues,
By imposing impossible-to-meet conditions, such as Mary Fitzgerald Square in the more
the South African police service ensures that centrally located Newtown (Mamba 2016).
the event cannot happen, and thus its atten- While Soweto Pride organizers resisted the
dant politics struggle to gain grounding. commodification and coercive practices of
Furthermore, for the organizers, this was the state, the Jo’burg Pride organizers appear
not just a matter of finances; this was also to have capitulated in the name of safety
about controlling the extent to which Black and leisure. But important questions must
queer life submits to state management and be asked: For which queer bodies was this
control. I would also like to add that there safety of greatest concern? Who has the right
was perhaps a discomfort at the symbolic of pleasure and leisure in certain spaces? It
and material nature of Black queer bod- seems that when queer bodies are visible as
ies,
occupying space, particularly in large consumers, they can be managed as upscale
numbers (as the event has increased in subjects they are both visible and protected
popularity). Perhaps it is the Black queer
by the state. In this way, the state uses the
body, particularly Black queer women and apparatus of security to produce acceptable
gender non-conforming subjects, that are LGBT citizenship (up-scale, predominantly
the unruly subjects. Their sheer existence white, male and consumptive) and police
and desire to claim space and critique the more unruly forms of LGBT citizenship
state make the event and its participants (poor/working class, predominantly black
unruly and disruptive. and female).
In 2017, the organizers of Soweto Pride
Race, sexuality and security reached a compromise with SAPS about the
Looking at the relationship between Soweto categorization of risk for the event. This com-
Pride and other Pride events helps to fur- promise allowed the event to resume after its
ther illuminate negotiations of vernacular 2016 cancellation. According to Nombande,
security as they relate more boldly to issues “Because last year the event was cancelled,
of race. In 2016, the white male, elite-domi- we felt that we still want to be able to organ-
nated Johannesburg (Jo’burg) Pride was held ize our Pride without the state imposing
in Melrose Arch, an exclusive, up-market some of the things on us…This year, we had
development. While admission was free, to negotiate with them…because we need
food and drinks needed to be purchased Pride, especially in the townships, so they
in that space. Since these were night-time re-categorized us to a low-risk event if weLivermon: Securing Pride Art. 12, page 11 of 14
agreed to stop allowing people to bring their engagement in cultural practices as opportu-
own alcohol…Pride is a protest, it is a march nities for expressions of vernacular security.
which will claim the streets of Soweto. We Third, this case study highlights that
are hoping people can come in numbers to when understanding security for minority
attend the march and claim their streets” and/or vulnerable populations, like black
(van Niekerk, 2017). For FEW, having the and LGBT+ communities, we must decentral-
event necessitated compromising on allow- ize notions of security as such communities
ing attendees to bring their own alcohol. do not always have access to the protections
However, FEW refused to compromise on an that states provide or choose not to access
admission fee, it was clear that their Pride such protections. Black and LGBTQ+ people
event was embedded in the politics of claim- often navigate a set of locally and socially-
ing and making space. In the process of mak- specific concerns that require that they must
ing space, (in)security from the state and be resourceful and strategic. If we do not
community is reconfigured into a valuable understand these local strategies of adapta-
form of vernacular security for black LGBT tion, we fail to fully recognize the agency and
South Africans. resourcefulness that such communities dis-
play when responding to shifting political,
Conclusion economic and social relations.
Three conclusions can be drawn from the Questions abound as to what effective
foregoing discussion. First, we must consider and inclusive justice and security service
security not as an already given set of con- provision could look like in South Africa.
ditions but rather as a set of concerns that While advances have been made in rights
animate a specific set of strategies. The strat- and representation across the racial divide in
egies are negotiated by various actors within South Africa, there remain crucial fault lines,
a social, economic, and political field. While deeply embedded in government practices
state-level practices of security are often and social norms, that continue to delineate
assumed to be the most effective, the above between male and female, black and white
case study suggests that even when state- and heterosexual and queer spaces. Across
level concerns intersect with more local con- the African continent, it might be best to
cerns, the broader political economy shaping see forms of state recognition as necessary,
these strategies, and they ways in which but hardly sufficient, condition for effective
these strategies are enacted, may differ sig- and inclusive security. Perhaps more contro-
nificantly. If security is taken to mean a set versially, Tushabe (2013) finds in their forth-
of concerns rather than a fixed set of condi- coming work that state recognition does
tions, then our understanding of the agency, little to help the most vulnerable gender and
creativity, and specificity of the strategies sexuality non-conforming Africans. Instead,
deployed by local communities to navigate such recognition simply adds additional state
these concerns, is enriched. regulation to intimate practices, and privi-
Second, understandings of security must leges some African LGBT+ individuals (those
go beyond a focus on physical bodies to whose practices allow them to be visible as
interrogate how black queer South Africans ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’) to the exclusion of other
must be provided a sense of security to African queer folks, whose practices and
have the freedom, safety, and affirmation ways of knowing fail to conform to the global
to form, re-form, develop, and evolve. While LGBT model. Ossome (2013) argues that con-
the securitization of the physical body may temporary African LGBT+ organizing, and
be a precursor, our notion of security can- the forms of state recognition that emerge
not stop there, for security must account for from it, are simply class-based movements
the symbolic and discursive as well as practi- benefiting a small cisgender male elite, able
cal. For example, the consideration of black to obtain and manipulate the forms of visibil-
LGBT+ security must consider questions of ity required by the state for their benefit. WeArt. 12, page 12 of 14 Livermon: Securing Pride
might see the c ancellation of 2016 Soweto 5
MSM (men who have sex with men) is
Pride within the twin concerns raised by often used in public health to describe
Tushabe (2013) and Ossome (2013), that the potentially at risk populations for HIV
state recognizes a particular kind of LGBT without resorting to identity markers
subjectivity, while suppressing another. such as gay or bisexual since it is acknowl-
edged that a significant percentage of
Notes men who have sex with men that could
1
In this essay the term “queer” popular in potentially be at risk do not identity as
academic circles is used as an all encom- gay or bisexual.
passing term for gender and sexual non-
conformity. I use it interchangeably with Competing Interests
the term LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, The author has no competing interests to
transgender, plus) a term more popular declare.
in NGO and governmental circles. The
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How to cite this article: Livermon, X. 2018. Securing Pride: Sexuality, Security and the Post-Apartheid
State. Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, 7(1): 12, pp. 1–14. DOI: https://doi.
org/10.5334/sta.607
Submitted: 04 December 2017 Accepted: 19 April 2018 Published: 06 June 2018
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
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