Heart&Soul Page 11THE INDEPENDENT

on Saturday 6 April 2013

BAYSIDE LODGE B E S T R O O M * B E S T R A T E

om/18/09155137

Our Rooms include:• T.V • ENSUITE BATHROOMS WITH SHOWER • 24 HR SECURITY

www.baysidegroup.co.zaMIDWEEK LOW SEASON RATES QUOTED ABOVE

BAYSIDE LODGE- 97 JOSEPH NDULI STREET (RUSSELL STREET) DURBAN

Tel: 031 307 4651 * Fax- 086 623 8018

Rooms from

R149

SIHLE MTHEMBU

THANDI Bengu is a cosmopol-itan girl. With a shaven head, akiller sense of style and a low,flat voice she embodies the ideaof being young, black and cool.

She is also 100 percent les-bian. The 25-year old Univer-sity of Cape Town graduate,who was raised in eMahla-bathini and now lives in Dur-ban North, has been openly gayfor five years now – an experi-ence which she says has beenvery taxing on her personally.

“It’s not very easy for a lot ofpeople to come out and openlyexpress that they are gay,” shesaid. “And for me it was a grad-ual process. I didn’t know thatI was attracted to women untilI was in varsity. So it’s not theeasiest thing in the world toopen up and say to people thisis who I am and expect thatthey will accept youimmediately.”

Despite the fact that beinggay is a constitutional rightand gay marriage is legal inSouth Africa, Bhengu notesthat there are still many chal-lenges faced by gay and lesbiancommunities – especially forpeople who are black.

“There is a lot of prejudiceif you are black and gay. I meanI have had experi-ences where I havebeen harassed andhad guys throwingremarks abouthow I am only les-bian because Ihave never sleptwith a man. Andthey do it in publicand no one does orsays anything be-cause being gay isseen as a taboo,”she said.

Having beenborn in eMahla-bathini near theValley of a Thousand Hills inKZN, Bhengu comes from aconservative background. Herfather died when she wasyoung and she has spent mostof her life as the adopted childof a white family her motherworked for as a domesticworker.

“I was adopted from a veryyoung age and I can honestlysay I never felt different grow-ing up,” she said.

Speaking about the experi-ence of “coming out” to herfamily Bhengu notes that al-though they have been support-ive it has been challenging toengage them on the issue.

One of the biggest chal-lenges Bhengu says she facedwas that of coming out to herchurch. Once a devout Christ-ian, she notes that the lack ofacceptance of gay people inchurches is something that shestill struggles to reconcile.

“The thing that bothers meis that in either case there is noroom for gay people to partici-pate in church life,” she says.“Even if the church is liberalthey don’t really express thatovertly and that is something

that bothers me.”Compared to places like Jo-

hannesburg and Cape Town,the Durban gay community isoften seen as being less activeand visible. There are, how-ever, centres and initiativesthat are aiming to change this.

Annually thecity plays hosts toa Gay Pride Festi-val that takes overthe streets and isattended by hun-dreds of gay peo-ple from aroundthe province andtheir friends andfamilies.

Over the lasttwo years theKZNSA Galleryhas also becomethe home of a newcultural event.The Durban Gay

and Lesbian Film Festival is anevent that puts gay narrativesat the centre of a public dia-logue. Here dozens of local andinternational films arescreened and accompaniedwith discussions around issuesfaced by the gay and lesbiancommunity.

Festival founder Jason Fid-dler says that he started theevent to fill a gap that alreadyexisted in the city. “I felt thatthere was a need for pink cin-ema and LGBTI (Lesbian GayBisexual Transgender Inter-sexed) orientated films to beseen in Durban. As Out-In-Africa Film festival hadn’t beento Durban in many years, itseemed an obvious need,” hesaid.

Although there is interest inthe festival, Fiddler notes thatfinding local content that ad-dresses gay and lesbian issuesremains difficult. “The chal-lenge is finding local film anddocumentary makers who havecurrent projects. Balance isvery difficult to maintain withso little content being producedin South Africa for an LGBTIaudience.”

Challenges ofbeing black andout in Durban

CHIC: Thandi Bengu, 25,has been openly gay forfive years. She didn’t knowshe was attracted towomen ‘until I was invarsity’, she said.

NONDUMISO MBUYAZI

FASHION conscious pun-ters will be marching tothe beat of a differentdrum at the beginning

of the winter racing seasonwith the third annual Indepen-dent on Saturday Race Daynext Saturday at ScottsvilleRacecourse in Pietermar-itzburg.

Glitz, glamour and thor-oughbreds will be the order ofthe day, but the look will bevery military, according to in-ternational and local fashion-istas.

Fashion designers like Vic-toria Beckham have recentlydrawn inspiration from allranks and the military-in-spired look is expected to be ahuge trend this winter, saydesigners, commentators andbloggers.

Describing the military lookas one of the easiest to incorpo-rate into your wardrobe, de-signers said the look was func-tional and effortless.

“Big trends this winterrange from parka jackets andcoats to camouflage pants,”said Nothile Khumalo, a fash-ion designer and blogger.

When shopping, Khumalo –owner of the Miss Toitty Bou-tique and originally fromKwaZulu-Natal, but now basedin Sandton – advises fashion-istas to buy calm colours likemilitary green, khaki andcamel.

Robyn Cooke, a fashion com-mentator in Cape Town andblogger for Style Guide, sharedthe same sentiments, sayingthe look – made famous by Vic-toria Beckham – would be ahuge hit with men and women.

For an elegant look, she rec-ommended infusing the histor-ical look with something more

classic and relevant. “For military chic, one can

pair up the look with mutedcolour blocking for elegance.”

Sandiso Ngubane, a localfashion writer, agreed that themilitary look was definitely invogue.

She said other trends to lookout for this winter includeddenim, spikes and leather.

For men, she said a peacoatwas a “must have” as it wastimeless, elegant and good forlayering. “This is always im-portant as the mercury drops.”

Other key items that will beflying off fashion store shelvesinclude baroque, fun knits andprints.

Cooke said leather could beworn with “key” garments likeleggings, skirts and dresses.

A baroque look, marked byornate details and gilded deco-rative motifs, would also be amajor fashion trend thiswinter.

Jumpers with comic-bookcharacters, pop art or animalmotifs would make for a funwhimsical look.

Khumalo said prints wereanother trend that wasn’t “go-ing anywhere anytime soon”.

“A different kind of printmakes a comeback each sea-son. On the international rampI saw a lot of geometric prints,especially in suits for men andwomen.

“We’re also going to be see-ing a lot of Sicilian inspiredgarments constructed withrich fabrics like leather, bro-cade, baroque and velvet.

“Ankle boots and mannishcoats for ladies are also makinga comeback this winter, somake sure that you selectpieces in keeping with the sea-son’s trends,” she said.

On essential winter items,Cooke said every person needsto have a classic trench coat,“investment” boots, scarf andleather gloves.

While the structure and fab-ric used may vary, Khumalosaid these were always part ofwinter fashion. The secret wasto make good buying decisionsand invest in classic and time-less items.

On garments to stay clear ofthis winter, that will have thefashion police whipping outtheir handcuffs, Khumalo saidflat, mid-length boots with fauxfur on top were a big no no.

Cooke said leggings worn astrousers were a massive fash-ion crime. “No matter howmany fashion experts say it isnot okay, people still continuewith it,” she said, adding thatleather leggings that would behuge this winter would exacer-bate the problem.

“The guideline is no leg-gings unless the lady parts arecovered. Tops must reach thetop of thighs to make leggingsacceptable and that goes foranyone over the age of 12.”

With the chilly weather,

Cooke and Khumalo warnedagainst wearing too many lay-ers and looking frumpy.

“I think a long, leather, fig-ure-hugging dress with lacelong sleeve would look veryhot,” said Khumalo.

“Nothing too heavy. If it isover the top then it must bedone with class and there willdefinitely be no frumpiness.”

Cooke agreed, advising fash-ionistas to keep their outfitssimple and elegant.

“You make a much morepositive impact this way thanby going over the top,” shesaid.

Finally, steer clear of shinyfabrics as they are unflattering,she said.

The thing thatbothers me is ...there is no roomfor gay peopleto participate inchurch life.

Thandi BenguStudent

PINCER MOVEMENT: Songezo Mkontwana of Glamorous Models in Hillcrest showcases hisessential winter gear. PICTURE: GEOFF BRINK

MILITARYTAKEOVER

SHORT BACK AND SIDES: Military lines have inspired the fashion ranges of VictoriaBeckham, and now local designers are standing to attention.

EYES RIGHT: VictoriaBeckham’s style invasion.