South Africa’s First Gay Youth E-Publication Issue 01 – July 2010

THE SOCCER WORLD CUP LAUNCH EDITION

It’s probably quite fair to say that most gay men aren’t really interested in soccer, or sports as a whole for that matter. So with the Soccer World Cup being hosted in South Africa, you’d be forgiven for taking, at most, a light to moderate interest in it. Some of my straight friends have gone to great lengths to participate in this World Cup: from queuing from 1am at FIFA ticket counters (and still not getting tickets for the games they wanted) to driving to Bloemfontein and Rustenburg to watch matches (I mean, seriously, who wants to go to Rustenburg, unless absolutely necessary?)

I’ve always had an ambiguous relationship with balls – sports balls, that is. Throughout my schooling career, I played soccer, hockey, rugby and basketball and in all of them, my overwhelming thought during most games was, “Keep the ball away from me! I have to stay away from the ball!” I knew that where the ball was, the action was and I didn’t want to be anywhere near that kind of action (the action that involves hot, sweaty bodies and burning lust is a different story entirely). So, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t choose to watch a soccer match (if an alien race were to land on Earth, I’m sure they’d find the idea of 22 grown men chasing a ball for 90 minutes as ridiculous as I do) but, as the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Or, in our case, when the Romans (and the rest of the world) are in your neighbourhood, do as they do. Therefore I decided to enjoy the Soccer World Cup tournament and get what pleasure from it I could. Sure, some games are actually quite exciting to watch but I couldn’t be too bothered with the game itself. The true appeal of the “beautiful game” is the beautiful men we get to look at on the screen (the sweatier they are and the tighter their tops, the better) and, man oh man, are there some beautiful men to look at on the field. The Algerian, Mexican and Spanish teams have caught my eye but there are good-looking men in almost all teams and that just makes the game that much easier and more pleasurable to watch. I enjoy the close-ups on the players during the singing of the national anthems and I love it when some players take off their shirts at the end of a match, either to swap shirts or in celebration of a victory. Frankly, I don’t care why they take them off – the main point is that they take off their shirts. So, in honour of the World Cup, the beautiful game and the beautiful men it has brought to our shores, this launch edition will take you on our journey of what’s come to be called “the other side of the World Cup” – the sexy, arousing and visually delicious side. Although many of us would like to see them playing with a different set of balls (that is, their own), we’ll have to be content with watching them run around kicking a soccer ball and hopefully taking their shirts off at the end of a match. Enjoy!

- Akhen Min-Qetesh

THE RAINBOW ROSE Less Blah Blah Blah, More Ooh Lah Lah!

Did You Know? : South Africa’s golden girl and Oscar winner Charlize Theron is a vocal supporter of LGBT rights and equality. She and long-term partner, Irish-born actor Stuart Townsend, have publicly stated that they will not get married until their gay friends and all other gay people have the equal right and opportunity to marry too.

Event News: The 2010 Joburg Pride Parade Day will take place at Zoo Lake Sports Club on Saturday 2nd October under the theme We’re ALL African.

Says Joburg Pride Co-Chair,

Zak Mbhele, “Sexual diversity is a normal aspect of the human spectrum and we want this to be accepted on the continent as part of its rich tapestry of

cultural, religious, ethnic and linguistic diversity.”

LGBT Trivia: The Prime Minister of Iceland, Johanna Sigurdardottir, is the

first openly gay head of government. She married her female partner on

27 June 2010 after Iceland became the ninth country in the world to legalise

same-sex marriage.

LGBT Quote:

“For a long time, I thought I wanted to be a nun. Then I realized that what I really

wanted to be was a lesbian.” - Mabel Maney

Do you have any input or feedback for us on the content and format of our

magazine newsletter? Or do you have suggestions or ideas to improve it?

Contact us at akhen.minqetesh@gmail.com

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Useful information: The Kaleidoscope Youth Network is a national LGBTIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and asexual) umbrella body of campus-based societies, student activists and affiliates that aims to

develop and implement strategies that seek to eradicate prejudice, discrimination and victimisation in all forms

against LGBTI youth, particularly at tertiary institutions.

They can be contacted at kaleidoscopenetwork@gmail.com