April 9, 2012 | Sex & Society

The sad side of Mr Gay World

Men from around the world gathered this weekend for the Mr Gay World contest in South Africa, celebrating hot homosexuals. But not everyone had a good time.

This was the first year that black Africans entered the competition. With much of the continent being anti-gay, it was a huge step for gay visibility. Sadly, it didn't go smoothly for some of the contestants.

Taurai Zhanje, from Zimbabwe, pulled out of the competition when government agents intimidated his family.

"There was relentless pressure on the delegate from Zimbabwe to withdraw," said Coenie Kukkuk, director of operations. "His family was followed by agents of the regime in Zimbabwe. His mother is employed by the government, she surely would have lost her job. And with 80 percent unemployment, she was looking after a lot of people."

The contestant from Ethiopia, Robel Hailu, was disinherited by his family when a radio station announced his name in relation to the event. And Wendelinus Hamutenya from Namibia was beaten and hospitalised two weeks after winning the chance to represent his country.

Past contestants from other parts of the world have been forced to confront their own country's homophobia. Former Olympian Chavdar Arsov lost his job as the luge coach for the Bulgarian team because he participated in the contest. And  the Chinese government has actually banned its citizens from the competition; Xiao Dai was officially reprimanded when he entered the 2010 contest in Oslo.

Hopefully this is a downward trend. As gay men become more visible, people will begin to see us all as real human beings and not the monsters they've made us out to be.

As for the competition itself, you can see the winner after the jump ...

Mr Gay New Zealand Andreas (Andy) Derleth

Mr Gay World contest goes ahead in Johannesburg despite threats [The Independent]