New NPO wants to tackle hate towards queer people in community

Heroes and Heels is a new NPO from within the LGBTQI+ community that aims to tackle hate and homophobia through education and runs campaigns about anti-bullying, mental health awareness and anti-gender-based violence.

The organisation was launched at Industrial Coffee Works in Centurion on Thursday (December 1) with speakers that shared their own stories and performances by local drag scene favourites. Drag performances included Larissa Vee Jones, Miss Pride Pretoria and a heartfelt dance by Marcel Venter.

Heroes and Heels was founded by Hennie Louw-Van der Schyff (Genie Wish), Lize Nel, Cody Harvey, Tanja van der Schyff, and Tanya B.

Speakers included Palesa Motloung, a local school counsellor, Dr Hencharl Strauss, head of the photonics centre at the CSIR, and Tanya B, a local trans icon that has broken boundaries with her courage and passion for activism.

Motloung spoke about her experiences with queer children who wanted to live happy lives just like their peers such as attending a matric dance with the person they choose, but were unable to.

She asked attendees to remember Tiro Moalusi, a Grade 9 PJ Simelane secondary school learner, who died by suicide after a student teacher mocked him for his sexuality, calling him a “sissy boy”.

Moalusi’s aunt, Masingita Khosa, told media after his death: “We as a family knew that Tiro was gay. He was our gay and we had long accepted and loved him the way he was. But to be shamed by a teacher became too much for him.”

Motloung explained that a 2019 study on violence, mental health and access to healthcare related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in South Africa found that levels of depression, anxiety, suicidality and substance use were far higher in the 832 LGBT+ respondents compared to the general South African population.

“The research widely accepted that these mental health disparities are due to so-called ‘minority stress, the effect of widespread and often institutionalised stigma, social isolation, prejudice and discrimination. Minority stress, which is a life-long phenomenon, adds to the existing stress already experienced by all people in their lives,” she said.

Dr Strauss divulged his own struggles making it through his studies with issues associated with homophobia and discrimination. He spoke about the need for communities of support, which greatly helped him on the path to success when he found his tribe through the queer society at Stellenbosch University, LesBiGay now QueerUS.

“I remember being so scared of the reaction I was going to get being gay that one day I decided I would run straight into it. I would embrace who I was head on,” Strauss said.

He decided he would instead put his energy into making a difference. “If I don’t like the world I was put in, then I am going to do something about it,” he said.

The final speaker for the night was Tanya B as she told her story about growing up as an ultra-feminine gay boy through to her decision to identify as the woman she always was.

“When I was 40, I decided I want to choose happiness for myself, to live life as myself,” she said. “But I was so blessed to have a family, and a mom who supported me and loved me just the way that I was.”

She thanked the founding members of Heroes and Heels for the work they were committing themselves to doing to protect and stand up for people from the queer community.

Heroes and Heels is preparing for its first mass campaign where it will provide Christmas meals for those in need and those that don’t have families to celebrate with so they can find their new family in their community.

Louw-van der Schyff said: “The goal is to grow Heroes and Heels into one of the biggest names that people will recognise as a NPO within the community – and even beyond that.

“We can help a large number of people within the queer community and spread awareness across the country. There is a passionate team behind the organisation that will drive it until we reach every single goal, one at a time.”

Louw-Van der Schyff asked anyone interested in the organisation to follow it on Instagram at @heroesandheelsnpo.

ALSO READ: LGBTQI Pride brings an explosion of colour to Pretoria

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