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When you travel with Pride of South Africa you will also be giving back to the community. For each booking received Pride of South Africa will donate monies to IAM - Inclusive & Affirming Ministries - a place where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people can participate fully and be strengthened in their spiritual, psychological and sexual identity as human beings.
Inclusive & Affirming Ministries (IAM) works towards this vision through programmes that support and empower the LGBTI community and stimulate dialogue as the alternative to debate in building welcoming and affirming religious communities.
IAM consists of 7 staff members, 2 permanently and 5 part-time staff members. IAM was started in 1995 in Cape Town and has gained national and international recognition for its work in the fight against discrimination and defamation of gay and lesbian people.
IAM is the only organisation in South Africa that officially targets the religious leaders of the mainline religious communities – especially those that still adhere to patriarchal and fundamentalist values. Their involvement has also been with co-Southern African countries and includes people from all racial and socio-economic groups.
Background of IAM
Post-apartheid South Africa was the first and is the only country to protect LGBT rights in its national constitution. But these protections often only exist on paper, according to Oberholzer, a white South African who has been working for LGBT rights since the end of apartheid in the early 1990s.
In 1993, in recognition of the work that gays and lesbians did to end apartheid in South Africa, the new national constitution included a clause specifically prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, Oberholzer explained. Oberholzer was a member of the OLGA (Organisation of Lesbians and Gays Activists) who fought against Apartheid and who made submissions to the African National Congress to include LGBT people in the Bill of Rights.
"Today, 70- 85 percent of the country are still against same-sex marriages," Oberholzer said.
Since 1995, it's been Oberholzer's mission to change the homophobic attitudes that plague the faith communities, especially in the townships throughout South Africa. He tries to persuade church leaders and congregants to recognize the humanity of their LGBT members. In a country where 80 percent of the population is religious, changing the minds of church members is changing the minds of the nation, Oberholzer said.
Oberholzer's social justice work began in the mid-1980s. In the late 1970s, he left South Africa and went to the Netherlands, where he was originally ordained, and lived there until 1983. He returned to South Africa to work for a Community Development organisation in rural South African townships during this time he was arrested and jailed twice for his work against apartheid . From 1992 to 1994 he served another parish in The Netherlands and on his return, found himself faced with a daunting problem.
Homophobia is rampant in the townships where the majority of the population lives. Gays and lesbians, once their sexuality is revealed, find themselves expelled from their homes and their communities, Oberholzer explained.
"There is no social security in South Africa," Oberholzer said. Once people are forced to leave their community there is nowhere else for them to go. The intolerance in the townships and its impact is overwhelming, he said.
No South African church would recognize Oberholzer as a pastor because he is an openly gay man. So he came to San Francisco for help in the 1996, with no contacts, and began cold-calling organizations, looking for funding.
I picked up a pink book in the Castro," Oberholzer said, recalling his relief at holding in his hands a substantial list of gay-friendly businesses and institutions after several years in South Africa. "And I called St. Francis."
Oberholzer was welcomed at the church, first by the Reverend James DeLange, and then by the congregation as a whole. In 1999, in a rite of prayer at St. Francis, the congregation and Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries made a commitment to continue to support and recognize Oberholzer as an ordained minister of Christ's Church, securing himself a set of mainline Christian credentials to bolster his legitimacy as he worked with churches in South Africa. St. Francis and LLGM continue to support his work financially as well, and are key donors to Oberholzer's organization, Inclusive and Affirming Ministries in South Africa.
Oberholzer began IAM alone in 1995. In contrast to the United States, he said, no religious denominations had open and affirming ministries when he started IAM. "In the USA even the Mormons have an affirming organization," Oberholzer said.
When he began IAM, Oberholzer said, "Ten ministers were on a list of open and affirming clergy." "Now there are 1,000 ministers on that list - who are gay-friendly (Not necessarily open and affirming yet)," he noted.
IAM also created the first and only gay and lesbian shelter in South Africa outside of Cape Town. Located in the township of Gugulethu, iThemba Lam provides temporary housing for LGBTs in crisis. iThemba Lam also serves as a central location from which to educate the community and clergy in the Western Cape about LGBTI issues, and brings a pointed reminder of the presence of gays and lesbians within the township.
Too often gay men live entirely closeted lives in the townships, marrying for fear of being expelled from their communities, Oberholzer said. Lesbians face similar social pressures and an even greater threat of violence.
"South Africa has the highest rape statistics in the world. One in three women stand a chance to be raped in South Africa," Oberholzer said. Black Lesbians are also subjected to what Oberholzer said was termed "corrective rape.,.", and said that family members commit many of these assaults.
Oberholzer connects the homophobic mentality of the townships to the legacy of Patriarchy that still dominates the black culture. "LGBTIs, like women, still suffer under male patriarchy," he said. IAM is committed to supporting women's rights and an array of social justice causes to combat this legacy, he added.
DeLange, now retired, attended services last Sunday to show his continued support for Oberholzer's work. "You can change the laws, but that doesn't change people's hearts," he said of the group's outreach and educational projects. IAM's primary focus is changing the hearts of the deeply religious townships through education campaigns and ongoing dialogue.
"Dialogue is the hardest part," Oberholzer said as he emphasized the need to continue conversations about sexuality in the townships.
Asked for the biggest need of IAM Oberholzer replied succinctly: "money." Because the organization doesn't fit neatly within existing social justice groups it often has trouble securing adequate funding for its programs.
"We are too religious for the gay rights group and too gay for the religious groups," Oberholzer explained. .
Inclusive & Affirming Ministries (IAM) works towards this vision through programmes that support and empower the LGBTI community and stimulate dialogue as the alternative to debate in building welcoming and affirming religious communities.
IAM consists of 7 staff members, 2 permanently and 5 part-time staff members. IAM was started in 1995 in Cape Town and has gained national and international recognition for its work in the fight against discrimination and defamation of gay and lesbian people.
IAM is the only organisation in South Africa that officially targets the religious leaders of the mainline religious communities – especially those that still adhere to patriarchal and fundamentalist values. Their involvement has also been with co-Southern African countries and includes people from all racial and socio-economic groups.
Background of IAM
Post-apartheid South Africa was the first and is the only country to protect LGBT rights in its national constitution. But these protections often only exist on paper, according to Oberholzer, a white South African who has been working for LGBT rights since the end of apartheid in the early 1990s.
In 1993, in recognition of the work that gays and lesbians did to end apartheid in South Africa, the new national constitution included a clause specifically prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, Oberholzer explained. Oberholzer was a member of the OLGA (Organisation of Lesbians and Gays Activists) who fought against Apartheid and who made submissions to the African National Congress to include LGBT people in the Bill of Rights.
"Today, 70- 85 percent of the country are still against same-sex marriages," Oberholzer said.
Since 1995, it's been Oberholzer's mission to change the homophobic attitudes that plague the faith communities, especially in the townships throughout South Africa. He tries to persuade church leaders and congregants to recognize the humanity of their LGBT members. In a country where 80 percent of the population is religious, changing the minds of church members is changing the minds of the nation, Oberholzer said.
Oberholzer's social justice work began in the mid-1980s. In the late 1970s, he left South Africa and went to the Netherlands, where he was originally ordained, and lived there until 1983. He returned to South Africa to work for a Community Development organisation in rural South African townships during this time he was arrested and jailed twice for his work against apartheid . From 1992 to 1994 he served another parish in The Netherlands and on his return, found himself faced with a daunting problem.
Homophobia is rampant in the townships where the majority of the population lives. Gays and lesbians, once their sexuality is revealed, find themselves expelled from their homes and their communities, Oberholzer explained.
"There is no social security in South Africa," Oberholzer said. Once people are forced to leave their community there is nowhere else for them to go. The intolerance in the townships and its impact is overwhelming, he said.
No South African church would recognize Oberholzer as a pastor because he is an openly gay man. So he came to San Francisco for help in the 1996, with no contacts, and began cold-calling organizations, looking for funding.
I picked up a pink book in the Castro," Oberholzer said, recalling his relief at holding in his hands a substantial list of gay-friendly businesses and institutions after several years in South Africa. "And I called St. Francis."
Oberholzer was welcomed at the church, first by the Reverend James DeLange, and then by the congregation as a whole. In 1999, in a rite of prayer at St. Francis, the congregation and Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries made a commitment to continue to support and recognize Oberholzer as an ordained minister of Christ's Church, securing himself a set of mainline Christian credentials to bolster his legitimacy as he worked with churches in South Africa. St. Francis and LLGM continue to support his work financially as well, and are key donors to Oberholzer's organization, Inclusive and Affirming Ministries in South Africa.
Oberholzer began IAM alone in 1995. In contrast to the United States, he said, no religious denominations had open and affirming ministries when he started IAM. "In the USA even the Mormons have an affirming organization," Oberholzer said.
When he began IAM, Oberholzer said, "Ten ministers were on a list of open and affirming clergy." "Now there are 1,000 ministers on that list - who are gay-friendly (Not necessarily open and affirming yet)," he noted.
IAM also created the first and only gay and lesbian shelter in South Africa outside of Cape Town. Located in the township of Gugulethu, iThemba Lam provides temporary housing for LGBTs in crisis. iThemba Lam also serves as a central location from which to educate the community and clergy in the Western Cape about LGBTI issues, and brings a pointed reminder of the presence of gays and lesbians within the township.
Too often gay men live entirely closeted lives in the townships, marrying for fear of being expelled from their communities, Oberholzer said. Lesbians face similar social pressures and an even greater threat of violence.
"South Africa has the highest rape statistics in the world. One in three women stand a chance to be raped in South Africa," Oberholzer said. Black Lesbians are also subjected to what Oberholzer said was termed "corrective rape.,.", and said that family members commit many of these assaults.
Oberholzer connects the homophobic mentality of the townships to the legacy of Patriarchy that still dominates the black culture. "LGBTIs, like women, still suffer under male patriarchy," he said. IAM is committed to supporting women's rights and an array of social justice causes to combat this legacy, he added.
DeLange, now retired, attended services last Sunday to show his continued support for Oberholzer's work. "You can change the laws, but that doesn't change people's hearts," he said of the group's outreach and educational projects. IAM's primary focus is changing the hearts of the deeply religious townships through education campaigns and ongoing dialogue.
"Dialogue is the hardest part," Oberholzer said as he emphasized the need to continue conversations about sexuality in the townships.
Asked for the biggest need of IAM Oberholzer replied succinctly: "money." Because the organization doesn't fit neatly within existing social justice groups it often has trouble securing adequate funding for its programs.
"We are too religious for the gay rights group and too gay for the religious groups," Oberholzer explained. .
CHARITY
Copyright Pride of South Africa 2008
