Event information
Pride provides a platform for every part of Cape Town’s LGBT+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, questioning, intersex, non-binary, asexual, polysexual, genderqueer and gender variant people) to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues and campaign for the freedoms that allow them to live their lives on a genuinely equal footing. The annual Parade through the heart of the CBD provides a chance to be visible and speak loudly to the rest of the city about what has been achieved, how much progress has been made and what is still needed.
Pride includes people of every race and faith, whether disabled or able-bodied and all sexualities and genders including lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, queer, questioning, intersex, trans*, genderqueer, gender variant or non-binary as well as straight and cis allies. Cape Town Pride is run entirely by volunteers.
OUTReach Africa hosts Cape Town Pride and multiple LGBTI+ events and publications in Cape Town and its surrounds.
This year marks 28 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in South Africa, and 16 years since South Africa voted to legalise same-sex marriage, giving same-sex couples the same legal rights as straight ones.
South Africa has come a long way in those 28 years, yet the country still faces daily reminders that the global battle for true equality is far from over, and rights hard won can be threatened, attacked and taken away.
It has taken the LGBT+ community many years to secure legal equality, and there is still work to do.
Pride exists to continue to fight for true equality and challenge prejudices that the LGBT+ community still sadly face on a daily basis.
Pride's Mission is to :
-Be fully inclusive of all sections of the LGBT+ community.
-Provide a celebration of LGBT+ life and a platform to continue the fight for equality and to challenge prejudice.
-Establish Cape Town Pride on a sustainable footing and grow the festival over time to serve better the needs of Cape Town’s LGBT+ community and promote Cape Town as a beacon to the world.
