EDITION: VUVUZELA, JULY 27, 2007
Students focus on gay rights
ERICA DREIJER
STUDENTS from seven South African universities gathered on the steps of the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein last week to mark the end of a national two-day conference focused gay and lesbian rights.
Organised by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Inter-sex (LGBTI) youth leaders, the lekgotla was hosted at Wits. Delegates came from Wits (ACTIVATE), Stellenbosch University (Lesbigay), UWC (Loud-Enuf), Rhodes University (OUTRhodes), UCT (RainbuwUCT), University of Pretoria (UP & OUT) and the University of the Free State (XX/Y).
The ceremony at the Constitutional Court symbolised the aim of the conference. A draft charter, formulated during the conference, was read out. It committed LGBTI youth leader to supporting human rights.
Delegates to the conference acknowledged that, although the legal framework had advanced in providing rights to gays and lesbians, it was not reflective of reality. Discrimination and prejudice were still widespread.
The conference was organised to air these issues and to find a forum to find solutions. It began with a tribute to the memory of two lesbian women who were murdered in Meadowlands the previous week.
In his opening address Dr David Bilchitz, ex-Witsie and former Activate chairperson, said all South Africans, “queer and straight”, needed to embrace transformation and challenge prejudice in striving to ensure that all citizens enjoyed freedom, equality and dignity.
On the first day of the lekgotla, various issues were identified as affecting LGBTI youth. These were the lack of knowledge within and about the community, a lack of social spaces to interact outside the clubbing scene, and slow state action to protect gay and lesbian people in cultural and religious arenas that do not accept gay and lesbian rights.
From the issues identified, delegates agreed the main areas to be addressed were education, advocacy and activism of gay and lesbian rights and finding a way to organise social LGBTI activities beyond the clubbing scene.
The morning session on the second day was used to meet with organisations that supported the LGBTI sector, including Behind the Mask, Forum for the Empowerment of Women and Gay and Lesbian Archives in order to establish a closer working relationship with these organisations.
In the afternoon, delegates discussed the draft LGBTI Youth Charter which had been compiled by a working group during the morning and ended with the ceremony at the Constitutional Court.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Raising the bar
ERICA DREIJER
A WITS gymnast was part of the national gymnastics team that came third in the 2007 All Africa Games, currently being held in Algeria.
Ross Ferguson, a third year Actuarial Science student, returned earlier this week after his team received a bronze medal and he achieved sixth place in the high bar event.
Ferguson was unable to take part in the trials for the Games in April, after he broke his wrist. This meant he was left out of the national team. But three weeks before the Games, he was asked to step in when a team member was injured and could not take part.
Since his wrist was still recovering, he took part in only three events: high bar, vault and floor.
Before the All Africa Games, he was training to take part in the 24th Universiade in Bangkok. Derived from university and Olympiad, the Universiade is an Olympic Games for students, and is second to it in sporting importance. It begins on August 8.
The Universiade, governed by the International University Sports Federation, is hosted every two years in a different city. Over seven thousand athletes from 200 countries are expected to participate this year.
Ferguson started practising gymnastics seriously after he was five, when his parents enrolled him in Monkeynastics. His parents say he “was always doing handstands and cartwheels”, from an early age.
At the age of nine, he participated in his first national championships and the team received a silver medal at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games.
Gymnastics is something he enjoys. And he realised early that, if he worked at it, he could be good. This is his secret: To train hard and stay focused “even though at times it gets boring and repetitive”.
He says it’s the only way to get to the top of your game when you have a talent. You have to realise the rewards may sometimes be slow to materialise, but you should just “keep at it”.
He dreams of qualifying for the 2010 Commonwealth team, but is realistic enough to accept there isn’t a sustainable living to be made from gymnastics. Both his studies and gymnastics are priorities for him. Not content just with sporting success, he intends also to complete an honours degree.
It’s a balancing act for him (in more ways than one). It means he has time for little else, but he is nonetheless an active member of his church.
Gymnastics remains a challenge as “it’s something you can never be perfect at and there is always a lot more to learn”, says Ferguson. He trains three times a day, six days a week. He loves being part of a team and going on tour, especially when he gets to compete overseas.
* Odette Richards, another Wits student previously interviewed by Vuvuzela, will also be participating in the Universiade, which is open to students between the ages of 17 and 28 who are registered at a university.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Wits bow out of rugby cup
ERICA DREIJER
A FINE run in the Bailey Cup rugby competition came to an abrupt and disappointing halt for WITS when they were beaten 32-26 by Pirates in the semi-final played on 16 July.
Leading 21-10 at halftime thanks to a storming start and two early tries, Wits then lost the plot by making several crucial mistakes in both attack and defense throughout the second half.
Wits coach Bruce Thorne said that the loss was due to chances not being taken and the team loosing possession on numerous occasions when on attack and within easy scoring distance.
New flyhalf Richard Osborne had a good match despite his two year lay-off, while the rest of the team did what was expected of them.
Wits will now form part of the Southern Warriors with Union and Police to compete in the regional competition that starts next week.
Points scorers for Wits against Pirates: Tries: Henri Muchurayo, James Kapay, Richard Osborne, Chris Eyre. Conversions: Grant Wilcox (3).
Friday, July 27, 2007
Through Erica's eyes 
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