Bonnie Mbuli has taken a moment to appreciate the role that proudly gay, lesbian, transgender and queer folk play in not only her growth, but the entertainment industry as a whole.
It has been quite a homophobic week on the South African social media scene with Zodwa, Phat Joe and the whole of Black Twitter almost sparking a civil war between the LGBTQIA+ community along with their allies, and the heterosexual community of South Africa.
It seemed to all stem from Zodwa's comments on gay men who she described as "naughty" before going on to claim that they only exist in entertainment because they have been "accomodated" by heterosexual celebrities. She was quoted as saying,
“is there a gay celebrity you do not know that has never been in a catfight with a woman? Gay people are naughty… They are convinced that they have vaginas when they actually have a penis,”
Needless to say, these words did not go down well with the masses and have sparked a war of words between her fans and critics on social media, with some even calling for Zodwa to be cancelled from Moja Love. While that was happening, however, Bonnie Mbuli stepped in and decided to offer words of encouragement to the offended parties in the South African LGBT community.
She began by seemingly calling out heterosexual celebrities when she said,
"When are your faves going to admit that if it weren’t for the LGBQTI community, they wouldn’t have the voice to express the audacity they r now celebrated for ?they taught us what freedom feels &tastes like, they articulated for us what it means & how to fight for it!"
She continued by calling out homophobes on social media by claiming that they are "clowns":
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And also added:
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Her words were seen as empowering and affirming to many queer people across South Africa who have felt sidelined by the blatant homophobia on the timeline this week.
Meanwhile, on Zodwa, a complaint has been lodged with the BCCSA and it looks as if this matter is going to rumble on for the long run. The complaint reads:
“These comments are homophobic and transphobic therefore something has to be done. Zodwa Wabantu's show is on a live broadcast show which means these comments went through several producers or stages before it was decided that it will be broadcast without any person picking up that these comments were homophobic therefore pose a threat to the members of the LGBT+ at large.”
