local time and was slated to end in a family-style festival featuring food and craft vendors, performances by local musicians, and a fashion show throughout the afternoon. The day began with a march around Mbabane at 9 a.m. “I like the idea of disrupting the space.”Īs far as pride parades go, eSwatini’s is less about flashy floats and flag-waving, and more about showing the public that LGBT people value family and community just as much as anyone else. “Whenever there’s something that gets people talking about us, it makes me very happy,” she said. “Now, with a spotlight and scrutiny, Swaziland might actually have to review, stand, and make an affirmative decision about whether they accept us or not.”īut Mamba, who identifies as a queer woman, also believes that any conversation about the LGBT community is a good one - even if it’s difficult. “We were enjoying a nice space,” she added. She works as an advocacy officer at the Coalition of African Lesbians, an organization that has been actively involved in putting together the parade. “My initial reaction was, literally, ‘Why? What is the intention? What are we trying to get out of the space? What is the objective? What are we trying to achieve?’” Mamba, who identifies as queer, told BuzzFeed News in a Skype call from Mbabane. It’s a question that Lusanda Mamba has been turning over in her head ever since she learned in March that Pride was coming to eSwatini. Despite its laws prohibiting men from having sex with other men, members - and perceived members - of the LGBT community do not face widespread violence on a daily basis the way they do in other countries.Īnd that’s precisely what worries some people: What will happen when the rest of society is forced to reckon with a topic and a group of people that, normally, they quietly turn the other cheek to?
On the one hand, eSwatini has been a historically peaceful place. “When you are going into the community, you have to present yourself the way they want you to be.”Ī country like Swaziland, which was recently renamed eSwatini, may seem like an odd choice for a country to hold a pride parade - it’s the last absolute monarchy on the African continent and there’s no clear sense of how many LGBT people are among its population of about 1.3 million people.īut it’s presented unique challenges and opportunities that have left people feeling excited and apprehensive. “Here, you live two lives,” said Dlamini, who came out in 2009.
First gay pride parade in swaziland free#
It’s an outfit that Dlamini, a logistics manager at a local family planning NGO, hasn’t always felt free wearing in a country he says isn’t the most welcoming to gay men.