Happiness written in those faces as Sly captured a ‘selfie’ with some members of the Lyric SF Youth

… that is Selaelo ‘Sly’ Mannya sharing knowledge with Lyric SF LGBT Youth.

Last night I met a group of students ranging between ages 14 to 18.
They are part of a collective called The Lyric SF Youth , which serves as a platform to educate LGBTIQ youth community about themselves.
I was honoured to meet a group of innocent, curious minds with an urge to learn about the world beyond theirs.
Misconceptions were clarified, myths rectified and lessons shared.

The positive turn to the Lyric youth visit is that it has equipped me with enough to start a similar program for South African youth.

Where:  San Francisco, California

What: Guest star/ Activist talk with Lyric SF Youth

Photos by Zanele Muholi

Camera used:  Canon 100d with 17-55mm lens, f-stop 2.8

So many questions were asked by innocent youngsters, for an example:

– How do you find other queer folks?

– Do mixed race people face any discrimination for being gay and mixed?

– What do you think about gayness being in the genes (science)?

– Is there any difference between ‘curative rape’ and female genital mutilation (FGM)?

– What do South African queer/ LGBT individuals do to protect themselves?

Each person was requested to introduce him/herself and tell if they have watched any film or documentary from South Africa or Africa.
The responses were disappointing, 10/11 never watched any film/ documentary made in South Africa or African continent.
But that was not a big deal, we learnt so much about the SF Queer history and also shared what we know from our shores.

Previous by Sly

2014 March 8: Les Locks

and

2014 March 1: Journeyed 3 cities in less than 30 hours