Mehmet Vefa Dag, the president of an obscure political party, recently took to Twitter to address executive mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and demand that the LGBTQ+ rainbow be removed from a pedestrian crossing on Somerset Road in Green Point.
Also read: New rainbow crossing for Cape Town’s iconic LGBTQIA+ district, Green Point
In the tweet addressing Mayor Hill-Lewis, Dag wrote, ‘Remove Lgbt colours from Cape Roads; other ways we are going to paint those roads with black colours; citizens above politicians… You can be gay, but we are not gay; we are straight people in Cape Town. Don’t push into our communities your disgraceful agenda.’
He then tweeted an invitation for ‘all’ to paint over the rainbow colours, stating that ‘Cape Town Zionists don’t have a chance to live in Cape Town. Truth and Solidarity Movement has arrived.’
Mayor Hill-Lewis responded to the tweet, expressing genuine sadness that such a hateful message gained traction. In his reply, the mayor acknowledged citizens’ right to peaceful protest but firmly stated that hate speech and damage to public infrastructure would not be tolerated.
He tweeted, ‘Genuinely saddened that this hate message gets such traction. A pedestrian crossing isn’t forcing you to do anything, Mehmet. You’re welcome to protest peacefully, but not to spread hate, and not to damage public infrastructure.’
Dag also encouraged people to vote in a Twitter poll about whether the crossing should be repainted black. After over 6 000 votes, 71% voted against the idea.
With a mere follower count of less than 1 000, Dag’s blatant hate speech represents a perilous attempt to gain attention and support.
Triangle Project, a Cape Town LGBTIQ+ organisation, accused Dag of ‘thinking that our lives and politics are narrowly defended by symbolic gestures of solidarity like the rainbow flag.’
It added: ‘We live and die for our right to love, to have family, to be active citizens, and contribute to building this. No flag will be weaponised against us. Too queer to be held ransom by distraction and deflection politics. Try again.’
Also read:
Tracing the journey of LGBTQ+ rights in Cape Town and South Africa
Picture: Geordin Hill-Lewis / Twitter