The emergence of gay subcultures in Africa can be attributed to the colonial entrenchment of homophobia and homophobic laws. This emergence of gay subcultures alongside the merciless homophobia necessitated the creation of secretive forms of linguistic communication amongst the sub cultured gays. Among the Nguni people of South Africa, isiNgqumo emerged as the lingua franca within the Nguni gay subculture. This study focuses on the Nguni gay subculture in Durban and the employment of isiNgqumo by township and city/urban Nguni gay men termed skesanas. 36 young Nguni homosexual men and one older Nguni man were the participants who were interviewed. The methodology that was used in this study was ethnography. The study also relied on a snowballing technique to access numerous of the 36 young Nguni homosexual men. The study found that the Nguni gay subculture of Durban is stratified throughout several places within Durban, it is not one geographical location. Two gay clubs and two gay salons were visited as they are some of the locations where the Nguni gay subculture is located. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2009.

The study emerges against a global and local backdrop of longstanding oppression and stigmatization of gays and lesbians, due to their sexual orientation. Regardless of transformative policies in South Africa which declare equal acceptance, treatment and inclusion of gay and lesbian citizens, prejudice and unfair discrimination still exists. The study investigates the experiences of gays and lesbians living in the Inanda area of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa with the view to developing a greater understanding of their experiences and realities of ‘otherness’ and oppression. The conceptual model which frames the study is based on the generic model of social identity development and general model of oppression put forward by Hardiman and Jackson (1997), offering a useful lens through which to better identify oppression in the experiences and realities of gays and lesbians. The focus on understanding human experiences locates the study firmly within a qualitative research design. This focus also led to the selection of personal narratives as the strategy of inquiry, thereby allowing the researcher to enter worlds of experiences different from her own. Face- to- face, semi-structured interviews with eight participants (four gays and four lesbians, between the ages of twenty one and twenty five) comprised the method of data generation. The participants were selected as a result of a snowballing sample method. All live near each other in the Inanda area and are in regular social contact with each other. While research using a small sample of eight participants from the Inanda area cannot claim to be a comprehensive study into the experiences of gays and lesbians in all South African communities, these narratives reflect to a large degree, experiences of ‘otherness’ and oppression common to all gay and lesbian people. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.