As the country continues to celebrate pride month, we can’t deny that there’s still a lot to be done in highlighting and educating society about the LGBTQIA+ society.
Queer is an umbrella term that can be used by anyone under the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. It conveys both an orientation and a sense of community.
Sunday morning’s book feature on Morning Live “They Called Me Queer”, is a read containing poems, stories and essays compiled by Africans who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual.
Curated by Kim Windvogel and Kelly-Eve Koopman, the read outlines a spectrum of queer narratives of race, class, gender, and sexual identities, coming out and heteropatriarchy among others.
Windvogel says the book came about after she couldn’t see a representation of herself… “a lot of the Queer narrative in South Africa is whitewashed, so I was like, If I can’t see myself then you need to create that space.”
She says the book was compiled after reaching out to the Queer community.
“So we called out to people the Queer community and we said look we’re going to start this book, “They Called Me Queer”, and we want it to be a book that is not going to be once-off but has a series. So I first called on Eve Koopman and I said, hey do you want to assist me? Let’s work together? Let’s find Queer people of colour, black South Africans who identify with the LGBTQIA community and let’s compile a book so that when the other baby Queer’s come, when the people after us, come they have a space to go and understand and see themselves.”
Click on the video below:
![[File photo] Library seen in the image above.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bellville-Library-@Bellvillelibrary-120x86.jpg)
