6 minute read
A tribute to Juan Lerm-Hoffman
Juan Lerm-Hoffman, who co-founded both the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and the Mr Gay South Africa pageant, is being remembered as a pioneer in South Africa’s LGBTQ community. Lerm-Hoffman passed away on Tuesday in Pretoria at the age of 59 after a battle with cancer. He touched thousands of people as one of the creators of the long-running Pink Loerie Festival.
The event, which first took place in May 2001, was groundbreaking for South Africa in the way that the organisers worked closely with the town of Knysna to put on the annual LGBTQ arts and culture festival. The event often caused great controversy, with conservative religious residents and community leaders attacking the town for supporting the festival. They called for a boycott of sponsors and at one point created a petition demanding that the town council and mayor hold a referendum to let citizens decide whether or not to allow the event in Knysna. Lerm-Hoffman, who grew up in the Eastern Cape, ran the Pink Loerie for a decade before handing it over to new organisers in 2009. In a farewell message at the time, he wrote:
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“The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras was born to benefit the town of Knysna, to create a platform for the entire LGBTI community to celebrate their culture and all the diversities within and to raise money for various charities and last but not least to use the Mardi Gras as a ‘tool’ to educate the masses on the gay community and gay culture, on the difficulties within this culture and to promote tolerance and understanding.” Speaking of the event’s anti-LGBTQ critics, he commented: “These extremists have hurt not only themselves but the entire Christian community in general. It was very difficult, but we had to rise above it and carry on and live our constitutional rights.” Lerm-Hoffman was also a co-founder of the first registered Mr Gay South Africa pageant and worked closely with others to help bring Mr Gay World to South Africa in 2012. Mr Gay South Africa has since evolved into the current Mr Gay World South Africa contest. Attorney Coenie Kukkuk, who partnered with Lerm-Hoffman in the Mr Gay South Africa competition, said he learned of the news of his passing with great sadness. “He was much loved by all who had dealings with him throughout his colourful life,” said Kukkuk. “We were kindred spirits, we always had the best laughs through trials and tribulations. It was through Juan’s determination and push that South Africa crowned its first Mr Gay World, Charl Van Den Berg (also passed), and he set out with us to bring Mr Gay World to South Africa for the first time.” The current organiser of the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival, John-Louis O’Neil said that Lerm-Hoffman “made a deep impact on the LGBTQ+ community throughout his entire lifetime.” He told MambaOnline: “Juan always referred to himself as ‘Moeder’ [Mother], in reference to all the times he played a mother hen to LGBTQ+ people in need. He will be sorely missed by all of those whose lives he impacted.” O’Neil added: “Mother has left the building. Pink feather boa around the neck and clenching her white pearl necklace.” Lerm-Hoffman is survived by his mother and three sisters.
The Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras and Arts Festival is a story that begins with the idyllic coastal town of Knysna. Knysna (a local Khoikhoi word that legend has it, means ‘ferns’), lies 1200km south of Johannesburg and east of Port Elizabeth. Once, one of the best-kept secrets in South Africa, the now much-loved town of Knysna is on the Garden Route and is surrounded by lush indigenous South African rainforests spilling out into a crystalline estuary; fed by the Knysna River. For the past twenty years, at the end of April and the first week of May, Knysna has also become home to one of the freshest and most exciting LGBTQIA+ celebrations around the world – the Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras and Arts Festival.
Initially, it was started by local businessmen to entice tourists to the town during the traditionally slow month of May, and reinvigorate the local economy. It was run by Juan Lerm until 2009, and the Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras became an event that would not only incorporate the local region’s gay identity expression, but it also celebrated the cultural contributions made by the gay community, and in so doing, overcame a prior history of suppression in the area. With an ever increasingly visible LGBTQIA+ community, Knysna’s Pink Loerie™ has systematically become one of the most written about must-see annual celebrations within the international LGBTQIA+ community. During the early days of the event’s creation, the organisers had first envisioned to have the event rollout as a parade, similar to the famous Pride events celebrating diversity found around the world. The next evolution of the concept was to host a parade as well as a party, akin to that of the Sydney Mardi Gras. While acknowledging that the region needed an event that provided a celebratory and creative outlet for its local LGBTQIA+ community, the organisers agreed that whatever was created should go a step beyond that of the traditional, better known Pride parades. It should be a celebration, a carnival – and a carnival with a purpose too. This allowed the event to incorporate all residents and visitors in the town, regardless of their sexuality, and celebrate the rich diversity of people from the Greater Municipality of Eden area as well, which incorporates Knysna and nearby George. It became an event that truly embraced the ideals of equality and freedom, whilst essentially remaining a celebration of gay culture and queer freedom, it was to serve as a platform where LGBTQIA+ cultural and political issues could be debated and addressed, in an informal and relaxed setting. Issues such as sexual education, HIV/Aids and acceptance from all sides of the community were often primary themes of discussion and celebration. After some initial discussions with the local government and a whopper of a fundraiser (that proved just how much support they had from all areas of the community) they were ready to begin … And so, in 2001, the very first Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras was launched, and to say it was a huge success is an understatement. It was the birth of a new, culturally aware and uniquely South African version of the European Pride, and to date, the Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras provides a wider range of events, exhibitions and gatherings to focus on creative and political endeavors within the South African and international Queer communities, including Performing art shows, dance parties, art exhibitions and charity drives that provoke thought and debate as well as good old-fashioned fun! And, for the more outdoor oriented, there have been excursions to local tourist attractions such as Monkeyland, Birds of Eden, as well as lagoon rides on the cruise boats on offer. At its heart, the Pink Loerie™ is a festival and a celebration; so, dancing, fun and music also played an enormous part of the event, with daily shows being held at various locations throughout the town and club nights. This beautiful tradition of celebration, Pride and creative expression in a gorgeous setting has continued to glitter and thrive for over eighteen years. The grand finale of the Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras, the Parade and after-party, is held on the final weekend of the celebrations. The festival attracts floats, performers and DJ’s from all over the world and local businesses also get into to the spirit, competing for the best Pink Loerie™ window display. This festival is the event where Knysna comes into its own, with the locals showing the full extent of hospitality, diversity and fanfare and festive spirit that is the backbone of the event, and the reason that people keep coming back every year. The Pink Loerie™ Mardi Gras & Arts Festival is, therefore, a time of celebration, but a celebration with a purpose.
