South Africa is not called the rainbow nation for nothing. Since 1994 it has been the only country in the world where equality is guaranteed to the gay and lesbian community by a constitutional Bill of Rights.

Queer life and tourism has flourished and today South Africa is one of the most favoured destinations for gay and lesbian travel. Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria have all become places where homosexuality is widely accepted and embraced.

In stark contrast to some of its northern neighbours, South Africa has learned to cherish not only its own queer daughters and sons, but also those fortunate enough to visit.

Jolling in Jozi
Gauteng, and Johannesburg in particular, is an important destination for gay and lesbian tourists, although a large number of these are business visitors.

Gauteng is the province that encompasses two of the nation's biggest cities: Johannesburg and Pretoria. The province generates 37 percent of the country's GDP (9 percent of the continent's) and contains a fifth of the population.

Even though the two cities form a single urban conglomerate, temperatures in Pretoria are generally three degrees higher than Johannesburg's. As can well be imagined, a metropolis of that size offers the best and most varied options in nightlife. Whether it is a Saturday night party, a Sunday tea party or a sleaze experience from hell/heaven you’re after, Gauteng offers it.

Club Remedy offers a progressive dance experience every Sunday evening from 7pm at 115 Anderson Street in the city centre. The newest clubs are Club Bitch in Randburg, Joburg’s gay super-club with two dance floors and The Playstation in the northern suburbs. Heaven's Gate in the north and Evolution in Midrand offers 'Strawberry Sundae': some of the best Sunday tea dance experiences available. The Factory, situated in an industrial area of the city, has been billed one of the best all-male sleaze bars in the world and offers the wildest titillation for any fetish enthusiast.

Johannesburg also plays host to South Africa's only annual Pride parade encompassing a Fair Day/Mardi Gras and Party. A basic philosophy of the Pride concept is that it is inclusive of everyone, irrespective of race, class, culture, religion, age or gender.

Also in Johannesburg are The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, the organisation responsible for South Africa's progressive views on homosexuality and the Apartheid Museum that offers a glance into the history of this country.

For fashionable shopping, Sandton, Rosebank, Hyde Park and Pretoria's Menlyn Centre all offer unbeatable style and prices. Should you be looking for gems of African design and art, Spark! Gallery and Rosebank's African market offer the best of antique, traditional and cutting-edge works from all over the continent. Spark! Concentrates on new African design and craft. The Sterkfontein caves, one of the four World Heritage sites in South Africa, is home to the world famous skull of Mrs. Ples and is less than an hour's drive from Johannesburg. Gauteng is also the most sensible base for those who want to incorporate a SA safari experience.

TOGS is the Organisation of Gay Sports, which hosted the Federation of Gay Games Annual Meeting in 2001. The Federation is the umbrella body of the Gay Games and South Africa will be putting in a bid for the Games VIII in 2010.

Johannesburg is also home to the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (Gala), which is co-ordinated by Ruth Morgan at the Department of Historical Papers at the University of the Witwatersrand. Established in 1997, it provides a permanent institutional home for the wide range of historical and archival material relating to gay and lesbian experience in South Africa.

GALA also has copies of a short documentary video ‘Jozi, the Queer Tour’ which is a tour of places of interest to the gay and lesbian community. Latest video documentaries include; Everything must come to light, focuses on the lives of three dynamic same-sex identified women who are sangomas (traditional healers) living in Soweto, South Africa and the documentary Simon and I on the late activist Simon Nkoli for his contribution to end discrimination against the gay communities.

In Johannesburg there is a wholly owned gay tour operator specializing in gay and lesbian travel, namely TST Gay Africa. They are experienced in putting together packages for all major gay and lesbian events, as well as tours to the Kruger National Park and other game reserves.

Pretoria
Pretoria’s Gay and Lesbian Organisation is one of the longest surviving community groups providing services to South African gays and lesbians. It is a non-profit, non-racial, democratic community service provided by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their friends, to promote identity, equality, mental health and a sense of community.

Gay Media
The national gay newspaper, Exit is freely available and full of useful information and the only lesbian magazine ‘Womyn’ is published quarterly. Online gay portals are Q the Gayteway to South Africa and Mambaonline, a stylish gay lifestyle portal catering to the mind, spirit and body.

Events
Certain events on the calendar are also mainstays of South African queer culture. The annual Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which generally held during February, showcases the best in the genre of the past year and also shows a number of classics. The festival runs concurrently in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria.

The annual Pride parade is enriched by a range of concurrent events in theatre, art, film, television and partying.

The town of Knysna on the famed Garden Route holds the annual Pink Loerie Festival , which features theatre, art and partying events. The annual Mother City Queer Project party held during December in Cape Town is fast becoming one of the biggest events on the international queer calendar. Each year's theme is unique and participants are expected to dress accordingly. Some recent themes were Farm Fresh, Toy Box, Army Camp, and The Wedding.

So, whether it’s clubbing you’re after or just breathtaking scenery, you’ll find it somewhere in South Africa. Come for a visit, you’ll be sure to arrive as a traveller and leave as a friend.