Painting the wall with Tuks UP&Out

Fatima Bala

What does ‘Pride’ mean, and why is it important in 2022? The answer could, perhaps, be found in a brightly decorated mural right here on campus.

On 1 October, Tuks’ UP&Out (a student-led LGBTQIA+ group which aims to educate, advocate for, and bring awareness to LGBTQIA+ issues) held a wall-painting event, kickstarting the celebrations for South Africa’s Pride Month.

The event had a good turnout, as students were invited to paint a new mural. Everyone got to work, painting with brushes and some with their fingers, filling the wall with colour and images that expressed their identity. The wall was adorned with rainbows, flag colours, slogans like “it is not a phase”, “girl in red?”, and much more.

PDBY spoke to UP&Out member, Clara van Niekerk, about why they believe that murals like these are so important. Van Niekerk, who uses they/them pronouns, spoke about how, in the past, UP students have painted new murals like these and that it is important for people to show up each and every year to paint a new one in order to show that, “we are here, and we won’t go away”. This is why Pride Month is still important in 2022 - it is the expression of queer identity, and pride in that identity, which is still often considered as a political act in our society. As a slogan on the mural says, “queer joy is resistance” – and Pride is a celebration of queer joy.

You can check out their mural on the wall close to Merensky.