Photos: Queer takeover of Sea Point Promenade

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community held a colourful protest on the Sea Point Promenade in Cape Town on Saturday to mark Pride Month.

The gathering, hosted by PWR Project – an anti-bullying organisation – was a call for greater LGBTQIA+ visibility and to build support for its planned Queer Youth Centres.

It was also a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the first-ever LGBTQIA+ Pride march on the African continent, held on 13 October 1990 in Johannesburg.

The cheering participants marched along the city’s Promenade, popular with both locals and tourists, holding up placards and rainbow flags. They called for the recognition and acceptance of sexual and gender minorities and urged passersby to show their support.

The group also threw colour powder into the air during the protest to make a bold statement about diversity and inclusion.

“We, as a community, have made tremendous strides in recent history, but today’s event [confirmed] how critical it is to forge forth and continue to challenge the status quo,” said Karl Hildebrandt, PWR Project Founder & Chairperson.

“Our organisation knows that change does not happen overnight. We know that one person can make a difference and encourage you to remember that there is even greater strength in numbers.”

PWR Project aims to open the first of its Queer Youth Centres in Cape Town and used the protest to engage, inform and create awareness about the challenges facing young LGBTQIA+ youth.

“We had mothers march with their queer children. We had supporters from conservative communities. We welcome and encourage all to stand together,” said Hildebrandt.

In 2018, the non-profit organisation held a high profile hike of two drag queens up (and down) Lion’s Head in Cape Town in heels to highlight the impact of bullying.