THE SOUTH REGIONAL FINALS FOR MR GAY SOUTH AFRICA 2010

The South Regional Finals of Mr. Gay South Africa 2010 was held in Cape Town on 07 August 2010 at The Glen Boutique Hotel in Sea Point with Chris Hattingh, manager and co-owner, who hosted the event.
The judges were Mr. Gay South Africa 2009 finalist Shahin Eskandar, renowned Brazilian fashion designer and previous coordinator of the Miss Universe™ pageant in West Africa, Luiz de la Ja; Gary de Klerk, experienced Mr. Gay South Africa™ judge and editor of Pink Tongue; and Blaine Shapiro-Dodds, brand executive of radio station Good Hope FM.
The contestants competed in an interview section, which counted for 50% of their total, and in formal wear, jeans and underwear by Bone Wear, the Official Underwear Sponsor of Mr. Gay South Africa™.

The winner, who was announced after the top five were called to the stage in matching black sports shirts with the South African flag prominently displayed, was André Lammers, 23, a drama student and part-time model, who is finishing his studies this year. First runner-up was 34-year old Errol Stroebel, food and beverage manager of the well-known Cullinan Hotel, who was also placed in the Mr. Cape Town Pride pageant and 2nd runner-up was Ernest Gravett, whose supporters made up a very lively first row of the audience. Wandile Mbunyuza of Khayelitsha, a volunteer worker for Health 4 Men, took the Mr. Personality crown.
The winner, André Lammers, won prizes in excess of R20 000, including a R6 000 bursary from Official Learning Partner of Mr. Gay South Africa™, College SA, a R6 000 diamond and precious stones pendant set in white gold, from Official Jeweller to Mr. Gay South Africa™, CW Design Jewellers, a weekend away sponsored by Durban View Guesthouse in Durban, a voucher from Bone Wear and the main prize, a cruise on the MSN Sinfonia to Mozambique from 15 – 19 November 2010, co-sponsored by Mr. Gay South Africa (Pty) Ltd. and Official Cruise Sponsor, Alternative Travel.

(article provided by Coenie Kukkuk)

AND THE WINNER IS:

I had the honour to be a judge at Babylon's firt ever Face Of Babylon Competition!

I was truly pleased at the well organised event and the support for the communtiy was incredible!

what I loved about it the most was the fact that they did not lable it a "Mr or Ms" Babylon. This left room for a variety of entrants, something far more appropriate and suited for members of the Rainbow Flag!The entertainment was provided by some of Joburg (and definately SA's) BEST drag artists and truly made the event even more worth while attending (not a lot of extroadinary acts out there anymore, but these girl had the crowd eating out of their hands).

But the man (in this case) of the hour was no other than Andre J. Smith, a 23 year old guy with more to him than meets the eye! From the word "GO" he had the adience cheering away and ater hearing his introduction speech, i could see this man meant bussiness! Needless to say, he walked off with not just the title of  FACE OF BABYLON, but also with Best Personality as well as Best Dressed. He truly fulfilled ALL those roles and suffice to say, I made him swear on his grave that he would enter Mr Gay South Africa 2010-lol!

VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Hey there all

Last week I posted a question to you all from a lady who was concerned about the treatment kids with gay parents get in school. There were a lot of mixed emotions concerning this topic. A few of you felt that we as gay couples have the right to have kids, that it formed part of our rights in society and that the problem lay more with the education children received from their parents with regards to people/families who were 'different' to them. Others felt that it was not fair to the children to be put through even more pressure at school than what they already face on a daily basis.I thank you for all your input.

Today, I am posting a letter I received from a gay couple who recently became fathers. This time we get to see things from the parents point of view. I think you might find this interresting:

"Since the birth of our twins, 13 June 2010, we have battled with Home Affairs to get our twin boys registered with both our surnames.

Due to the recent change on the Children's Act, we did not have to undergo the procedure of adoption. As I am the biological and natural father to the children and we are married, we only had to submit our application to the High Court to declare us as the legal parents. Which we have done and the High Court signed a Court Order on 22 June 2010, declaring us the legal parents.
According to Home Affairs staff, we as a same-sex couple can not register our children with both our surnames due to the fact that a man can not give birth to a child. Home Affairs insists that the birth mother's name should be listed on the birth certificates. However the High Court has signed a Court Order declaring my husband and I as the legal parents to the children. We have completed all the necessary applications for re-registration on 29 June 2010, documents were only handed to Home Affairs head office (by hand) on 02 July 2010. Home Affairs has been sitting with our applications and all other related documents for over a month now, only when I called the offices did they started making work of our case. We have been lied to by staff of Home Affairs, whereby they told us that our applications were with their legal department and that they were awaiting an instruction from their legal department. Subsequently I have found out (from the legal department, Litigation Officer) that our case was only brought to their attention on 05 August 2010.

It has been well over a month now that we have been waiting for the Abridge Birth Certificates. I have written emails and have spoken to several people, and still I am being told that they are looking into the matter. Today our case has been brought to the attention of the Office to the Director-General, thanks to the Democratic Alliance for their assistance. However, this being said I must still wait until Thursday to see if the next person could do anything about the registrations. When gay-marriages were legalized, Home Affairs had done all the necessary changes on all documents pertaining to registration of the marriage. However they have not made any attempt to make the necessary changes on the Registration documents for the registration of a child/ren born to same-sex couples through surrogacy.

When a heterosexual couple register a child that was born to them through surrogacy, there seems to be no questions asked as there is a male and female listed as father and mother of the child. But when two men or two women want to register a child/ren born to them through surrogacy, a thousand questions are asked and rude remarks are passed. In my view and opinion it is nothing but discrimination against gay people and I find it a violation of my human rights. The fact of the matter remains that in 2001 a similar case was brought to the constitutional court and the High Court then made a ruling that section 5 of the Childrens Act of 1987 was unconstitutional.

In nine years Home Affairs have done nothing to change any documentation pertaining to the registration of children born through surrogacy to same-sex couples."

QUICK QUESTION:

Ok, so for those of you who were wondering what the whole 'Solar Flares and such 'heading was about, i was just thinking maybe the Solar Flare had something to do with it.

Back to the Quick Question:

I recently spoke to a lady about the idea of one day wanting Children of my own. She replied with the question: "Do you think its right, I mean for Gay Couples to have kids?" I responded by asking her what she meant by that question? She said that she knows a gay couple who's kids are in the same school as her grand children, and that these kids are constantly being teased because their parents are 'diferent' that the others and she didnt feel that it was fair on the kids to be put through such issues.

So, this weeks poll is this (and im going to post the very word she asked me): IS IT FAIR ON THE KIDS TO HAVE GAY PARENTS?

Go and make your mark, and please feel free to post your own opinions on my blog. I would really love to hear both sides of the story. Especially from gay couples who do have kids.

till lata

Charl

SLOAR FLARES AND SUCH!

So without any doubt I'm sure you all will aggree with me that this week's major story is the judgement on Proposition 8.
For those of you who do not know yet, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker this week declared Proposition 8 uncostitutional and said that "California "has no interest in differentiating between same-sex and opposite-sex unions". The ruling was the first in the country to strike down a marriage ban on federal constitutional grounds. Previous cases have cited state constitutions. To read more about this story go to: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gay-marriage-california-20100805,0,2696248.story .

THE FACE OF BABYLON 2010

Sunday the 8th August will be the final event in this years FACE OF BABYLON, you may still enter by downloading the entry form and emailing it to Graham. We will also have a Scout on Saturday night handing out forms to some of our patron that he would like to be entered into the event.

Remember Monday is a public holiday and the party can only get bigger.

First Prize is R5000 and two tickets on the Babylon Cruise happening in Nove...mber.

So come on Boiz... GET NOTICED!

You CAN be the FACE of BABYLON!


Contact Info:

Email: info@babylontheclub.co.za
Website: http://www.babylontheclub.co.za/
Location: South Lake Center cnr. Lenchen Street North and South rd
               Centurion, South Africa

MR GAY SOUTH AFRICA- SOUTH REGIONAL FINALS

 We are looking forward to a wonderful event with sexy boys, a great singer, good company and more - Cape Town, the Mr. Gay South Africa™ 2010 road show is on its way to YOU ...

Bookings received are fast approaching the amount of seats we have hired, please mail NOW if you want to book - otherwise standing room only, which is also limited. Mail hennie@mrgaysouthafrica.co.za with 'Cape Town' in the heading and amount of guests.

Possible contestants - you have 32 hours to enter still - until close of business tomorrow, Wed. 4th of Aug. NB: Men of colour are encouraged to enter to reflect the racial diversity of our country.

Remember, prizes of R20 000 are on offer, and much more if you qualify -see prizes listed here: http://www.mrgaysouthafrica.co.za/prizes. You will also receive a set of Bone Wear designer underwear just by entering. You have nothing to lose – we are there to prepare and rehearse you … and show the best you have, not to embarrass you. Quite the contrary.

My mother always says - 'You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket ..." ;-)

This is more than a lottery - it's 50% personality as well!

See you this weekend.

For more info go to: http://www.mrgaysouthafrica.co.za/