Welcome to South Africa's gay capital

Enjoy the links to Cape Town's gay scene though this blog which in turn links to our 3 main cities - Gay Durban and Gay Johannesburg.

Cape Town on Gay Directory

Cape Town accommodation and gay bars feature in the revamped Gay Directory South Africa which is the largest gay Facebook group in South Africa. With over 4 200 members the Gay Directory is an indexed link to gay interest groups, accommodation, gay clubbing and bars and gay Facebook groups and websites. The group was created by Dave Mc Naught and has the support of the pink community as a valuable resource.

Check out the Gay Directory South Africa here.

Cape Town's finalist: Mr Gay South Africa 2010

Cape Town is turning out the talent with 3 finalists in the Mr Gay South Africa 2010 pageant. Not only did last year's winner Charl van den Berg hail from Cape Town but he went on to be chosen as Mr Gay World.

In the photos from top to bottom (lol) are Andre' Lammers, Errol Stroebel and Ernest Gravett.

SMS voting for the 2010 competition has opened and all of the finalists can be seen on the Mr Gay South Africa official website here.

Cape Town's finalist: Mr Gay South Africa ™

Andre' Lemmers is Cape Town's finalist in the Mr Gay South Africa ™ pagent. He was chosen at the regional finals held at The Glen Hotel there recently and now goes forward with the other regional finals to the glittering pageant to be help in Pretoria later this year.

The Boys from Cape Town

Some pics from the Indaba Tourism Show of the Cape boys (and girl) having fun this week..

Hats off to the boys from Cape Town who exhibited (ha ha, no pun) at the Indaba Tourism Show in Durban this week. The Show ended with a Pink Party at Durban View Gay Guesthouse and as you can see from the pics we all had a load of fun.

I can't remember all of the names, but will pick out some and send a link to the email addresses we collected. So if you guys are reading this and want to add a name and a link, just leave a comment or email me at durbanview@gmail.com and I will do.

So thanks Jason for organising. In the pics I see Louis, Petra, Llewellyn, Jason, 3rd pic - myself, Llewellyn and Claude, Brian and Deon, Brian and Jason at the Cape Town stand at Indaba and in the last pic friends with Jason of Tulbach. Dave

Cape Town boy scoops Worldwide Mr Gay 2010

Cape Town's Mr Gay South Africa, Charl van den Berg, has just been selected as the new Worldwide Mr Gay 2010.

He was crowned on Valentine’s day at a gala ceremony in Oslo, Norway. The competition (previously known as Mr. Gay World) drew delegates from all over the world representing all of the continents.

Australia came second and the rest of the top five were made up of Hong Kong, Spain and China. Both Mr. Photogenic and Mr. Swimwear were won by Russia and Brazil took the Mr. Popularity title.

The competition was streamed live on the Internet to viewers from all over the world. Charl said from Oslo just before the finale started: “The competition is very tough, but I am confident.” That confidence shone through when he had to answer the main question put to the final five: “If you were to speak to an high school about sexuality, what would you tell them?”. Charl answered: “Sexuality is a private matter; regardless of what your sexuality is, we are all the same – we are all human beings.”

The 28-year-old restaurant manager from Cape Town impressed the judges and Morten Ruda, President of Mr. Gay Europe said to the organisers of the Mr. Gay South Africa™ competition: “Congratulations on your victory! He has made a deep impression on all of us here in Oslo! Well deserved. Best wishes for all his future endeavours.”

The first duty of the newly appointed Worldwide Mr. Gay will be to fly to Vancouver, Canada to take part in the festivities of the 2010 Winter Olympics. While in Vancouver and Whistler, Worldwide Mr. Gay will be an ambassador for equality and diversity while taking part in the Pride House – a safe space that brings visibility to LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex) people in sport.

Cape Town winner - Mr Gay South Africa 2009

At a glittering affair in Pretoria our Mr Gay South Africa 2009 has been chosen - Charl van den Berg, 28 year-old Cape Town boy. You can connect with Charl on his blog.

Charl says: "It has been an amazing journey and something I know I will always remember. Up to know I have learnt more about myself than I think I ever have. I have realised my potential as a human being to be able to make a difference in my community and have also come to realise that I CAN do anything I put my mind to!"

Congratulations to the winner as well as the runners-up.

Cape Town does Durban

Hot Cape Town couple Tom (right) and Shawn (second from right) seen in Durban at Durban View Gay Guesthouse with Llewellyn (left, guesthouse co-owner) and John (second from left) from Johannesburg.

The roof-top jacuzzi and sun-deck with it's city wide views is always the place to melt-down..

Out in Africa Film Festival Cape Town 10-20 Sept

The 16th OUT IN AFRICA South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival takes place in Cape Town from 10-20 September 2009 and in Johannesburg from 3-13 September and features 17 international feature films and 9 South African productions, five of which are world premieres.

The festival has a wide range of films to appeal to all with subjects that run the gamut of human experience. Themes range and include, amongst others: high school hilarities, forbidden love, coming out, the desire for children and ageing gigolos. Moviegoers can look forward to comedies, tragedies, dramas and thought provoking documentaries. Every genre of filmmaking is covered including homage to celebrated gay icons.

Award winning international directors and actors will attend as guests of the festival. The festival opens with Spinnin' (6 Billion Different People) a film made by Spanish director Eusebio Pastrana in 2007. This is the Spaniards at their wacky best – an exuberant award winning film set in Madrid in 1995 and follows lovers Garate and Omar as they seek to have a child.

Included in the line up is Fig Trees. Directed by John Greyson, this Canadian production is a contemporary opera based on the lives of South Africa’s own HIV/Aids activist, Zackie Achmat and Canadian Tim McCaskell. The film uses clever historical references to Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thompson and is richly layered, intelligent and unique. Greyson, who is considered the Prince of Gay Filmmaking, is a guest of the festival and will be in attendance. He travels courtesy of the Canadian High Commission.

Angel, directed by Giorgios Katakouzinos is an award winning film that when it debuted at Cannes in 1982, took the world by storm. Based on a true story this Greek classic is considered the one Greek film that all Greeks have seen. Anyone who has seen Cabaret will be fascinated by Chris and Don, directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara This amazing documentary is about Christopher Isherwood whose short stories “Goodbye to Berlin” were the basis for the musical Cabaret. This sharp, witty and revealing film is told mainly by his lover, Don, and is supported by amazing archival footage of Hollywood starting in the late forties.

Courtesy of the British Council, the festival welcomes in attendance director Simon Pearce and producer Christian Martin whose film Shank follows the story of working class Cal who hides the fact that he is gay to his fellow gang members. Trouble erupts when he rescues a French boy his gang beats up. This explicit, shocking, largely hand-held film has already picked an international award and breathes new life into British alternative cinema.

Probably the most controversial film of the festival is the recently unbanned by the South African Film & Publications Board, XXY. This multi-award winning film is a complex tale of gender, identity and sexual orientation. Beautifully shot with stellar performances, the festival is proud to welcome the director, Lucía Puenzo and lead actor Inés Efron.

Click on the link here to see the full Cape Town schedule at the V&A Waterfront Nu Metro.

The Decks Cape Town - winner

Donovan is the winner of our Underwear and Swimwear Show prize of a 2-night stay at The Decks Gay Guesthouse in Cape Town. The competition was held at the recent Show at Durban View Gay Guesthouse and the contestants were expected to show us what they were wearing!!

Donovan was a bit shy to show the camera his winning underwear when receiving the prize, but here is a picture we took on the night of his sexy bum.

Hot in Cape Town

March and April are South Africa's best weather months... hot autumn sunshine, hot bodies, cool evenings....

New gay website

Cape Town's Andy Wicks (right, seen with friend Sebastian at the Loft Lounge) has just launched his new website aimed at the gay market. GayShare is an excellent site themed to Work, Live and Play gay in South Africa. It's an opportunity for gay business owners and event organisers to market themselves to the exclusively gay community in South Africa online. Well done Andy and your team for an excellent new addition to our community internet and business needs.

Tourists in Cape Town

For Llewellyn's birthday we decided to do the tourist thing and booked into one of the delightful apartments in the gay village around Waterkant Road in Cape Town. We love drinking wine and a bonus was that the Stellenbosch Wine Festival was on in this town at the centre of the Wine region about 30 mins drive out of the city.

In the photos from top to bottom are Flowers, Llewellyn and Dave enjoying the Wine Fest and making new friends; Llewellyn and Dave at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background; Llewellyn taking a stroll up the cobbled road outside our apartment in the gay village; a seagull giving us the beady eye at the Waterfront.. we could also see some seals frolicking in the harbour waters just a little further out. What a wonderful birthday in the Mother City!!

Mr and Miss Gay SA 31 May

Cape Town's Quentin Saunders is this city's hopeful in the Mr and Miss Gay South Africa International finals being held in Pretoria this month end.

Before and after the show and pageant you will be able to join the crowd on the dance floor to the cool sounds of one of South Africa's top DJs Hennie Blom and party until sunrise.

There will also be a special appearance by Mr Gay South Africa 2007, Mr Community, Mr Cool Smile, Mr Jeans, Mr Personality, Mr Speedo, Couple of the Year and Drag Queen of the year.

The extravaganza will be held at the Portuguese Hall and tickets may be booked through StrictlyTickets.com or TicketBitch.co.za.