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Winnie Mandela, Queerbashing, and the Left
BAD Broadside #3
Several months ago a trial took place in south africa that might
have been expected to be of great interest to the progressive
lesbian/gay movement. Winnie Mandela was charged with and convicted
of various charges connected with the kidnapping and beating of
several young men, one of whom was later killed by her associates.
What makes this trial relevant to the gay/lesbian movement is that at
least part of the reason for this attack was that these men were
believed to be engaging in sex with other men, an activity that
Mandela apparently finds worthy of punishment by beatings, and even
death. Over two years ago, when this incident occurred, Mandela was
severely criticized by anti-apartheid activists in south africa.
However, with the notable exception of the article, "Has Winnie Lost
It?" in the May 1991 BLK, we have yet to see any criticism of Mandela
by progressive lesbian/gay activists or publications in the united
states, including radicals like Queer Nation or Gay Community News. A
number of local lesbians even participated in the organization of a
women's event in Boston in her honor last June. Apparently many
radical lesbians and gay men feel that queer-bashing is okay, as long
as it is perpetrated by other progressives like Mandela.
We concede that it is hard to know all the facts about what
happened in this incident, but we have read nothing which leads us to
doubt that anti-homosexual bias played an important role in the
beatings and murder. Mandela herself admits that the presumed
homosexual contact between her victims and a minister at a hostel in
which they lived was the motivation for their abduction and beating.
She claims, however that she was only trying to "protect" them from
"sexual abuse," despite the fact the "victims" have never claimed that
any abuse occurred. Like many parents who try to beat homosexual
feelings out of their children, Mandela feels it is legitimate to
torture those who prefer homosexual sex. If she were truly interested
in protecting these men against alleged sexual abuse, why not deal
with the supposed "abuser," instead of further abusing the "victims."
The only abuse suffered by these young men was that inflicted by
Mandela and her friends.
Such actions on the part of Mandela against her opponents should
come as no surprise given her commitment to violence and bloodshed as
the preferred method of dealing with problems. Mandela has been tied
to three other kidnappings and assaults, as well as a disappearance,
that took place within a few months of the events she was being tried
for. She also has been quoted as saying, "With our matches and our
necklaces, we will liberate South Africa," referring to the practice
of placing gasoline-soaked tires around the necks of those some
anti-apartheid activists consider "traitors", and lighting them on
fire. Interestingly, just like Mandela's bullying of young queers,
necklacing is used only against black people.
Unlike most of their counterparts in the united states, the
progressive movement in south africa refused to keep silent in the
face of Mandela's brutality. In fact, the first reports of the
assaults and killing were published by an anti-apartheid newspaper,
not the press controlled by or supportive of the government.
Anti-apartheid organizations in south africa, such as the Congress of
South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the United Democratic Front
(UDF), were quick to condemn such violence on the part of Mandela. The
UDF/COSATU statement read, in part, "We are outraged at Mrs Mandela's
obvious complicity in the recent abductions and assault of Stompie....
We are outraged by the reign of terror that the team [Mandela's body
guards, also known as the Mandela United Soccer Club or the Mandela
Football Club] has been associated with. Not only is Mrs Mandela
associated with the team, in fact, the team is her own creation. We
are of the view that Mrs Mandela has abused the trust and confidence
which she has enjoyed over the years.... The Mass Democratic Movement
hereby distances itself from Mrs Mandela and her actions."
This rebuke from her former allies in the anti-apartheid movement
came only five months after another challenge to her image as a
well-liked opposition leader. In September 1988, Mandela's home in
Soweto was burned down by local "comrades," apparently in retaliation
for a sexual assault against a student leader by members of the
"football club." (Apparently, real sexual abuse is acceptable to
Mandela and her friends, as long as it is heterosexual.) The attack
on Mandela's home appears to have been prompted as well by ill-feeling
generated by Mandela's rather comfortable lifestyle, which includes
ownership of a Mercedes, in the midst of the widespread poverty in
Soweto. According to a source in the anti-apartheid labor movement,
the public condemnation of Mandela by COSATU and UDF was prompted by
pressure on the part of Soweto residents fed up with the activities of
Mandela and her associates. Prior to the killing of Stompie Seipei,
opposition among other anti-apartheid activists to Mandela's thugs
had led both Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela to call on her to disband
the club.
The left in the united states, hetero or homo, has never been very
principled in its defense of individuals against the tyranny of
progressive governments or movements. For instance, some gay/lesbian
activists still defend the cuban politicians who imprisoned queers in
the past and quarantine HIV-positive people today, practices these
activists would find intolerable if engaged in by the united states
government or its allies. Apparently, for many leftists, political
leaders like Mandela and Castro who mouth the slogans of liberation do
not need to live up to the same standards of behavior as mere mortals.
In a column entitled "Leftist cheerleaders are often wrong, but never
in doubt," Thomas Sowell discussed the mindset of Mandela's
supporters: "Long before the present ugly episode, Winnie Mandela was
justifying the hideous practice of burning political enemies alive.
How could anyone have romanticized such a person? Like too many
other issues, South Africa is not approached as a serious question
about the fate of millions of flesh-and-blood human beings, but as a
symbolic issue providing yet another backdrop for our own moral
preening. Those who are preoccupied with showing that they are on the
side of the angels are quick to find angels to side with. Winnie
Mandela was just one of those angels."
Just as many american leftists once ignored credible evidence that
progressive leaders like Lenin and Castro were brutalizing and killing
dissidents, most leftists today, including many lesbian/gay activists,
continue to fawn over Mandela, despite the fact that even many of her
former allies have seen her for the bully she is and have spoken out
against her. People who are serious about liberation, sexual and
otherwise, need to have a consistent commitment to personal freedom
and be willing to speak out whenever people are unjustly attacked,
whoever the attacker may be. Hypocritically covering-up and
apologizing for the excesses of progressives puts into serious doubt
the left's stated commitment to a free society.
A slightly different version of this broadside appeared in Gay
Community News, July 7-13, 1991
NO COPYRIGHT
Please send two copies of any review or reprint
of all or part of this to:
Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade
(BAD Brigade)
PO Box 1323
Cambridge, MA 02238
Internet: bbrigade@world.std.com
July, 1991