​A 20-year-old Katlego Tumisi from Kagiso in the West Rand said Women’s Month celebration means a lot to him as a gay person because he was not discriminated at the celebration.
Tumisi is a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual , Transgender, Queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) community and he was one of the people who attended West Rand Regional Women’s Day event that was held in Mogale City Community Hall.

Despite discrimination in his community Tumisi said Women’s Month is where the LGBTQIA+ community is taken seriously and feel safe around women.

“This month we celebrate strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society. In events like thesegay people participate in dialogues, and we are given an opportunity to talk about our experiences”, says Tumisi.

“My grandmother who is a retired school teacher never judged me instead she asked me to update her about any developments in the LGBTQIA+ community

I have assisted people from my community who were in the closet to come out and face the real world because it’s not an easy journey. Most family members including our parents are expecting a lot from us but at the end of the day we are disappointing them,”. added Tumisi.

“There are parents who will request private meetings because they don’t want people to know that their child is a gay or lesbian. It is a very difficult situation because that’s where you will find out that some parents wanted their child to have kids and build a family however all this will never happen naturally,” concludes Tumisi.