LGBT+ PRIDE MONTH 2019 : Q & A WITH LUNGILE AND KATLEGO

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The month of June was chosen as LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. As a result, many pride events are held during this month to recognise the impact that LGBT people have had in the world. For Joburgers, October is Pride Month here in Gauteng and according to Wiki, it was first held in South Africa on the 13th October 1990. The event was initiated and organised by GLOW, the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) that was founded by gay, anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli in 1988.

We did a Pride feature back in 2017, and this year we’re back and featuring Lungile and Katlego.

If you, the reader, know of any other inspirational LGBT+ individuals or your own story we could feature contact us.

Thank you for sharing your story.

In their own words …

 

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELVES, AND WHAT SHAPED YOU BOTH TO LIVE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF TODAY?

LN: We are both social influencers, my name is Lungile Neer, age 41 and an Entrepreneur, LGBTQI activist and I am in a relationship of more than 5 years with Katlego Masupa, age 28, a Radiographer and Brand Influencer. We met through a friend and it was love from the onset. Like any other relationship, we have had our ups and downs, including breakups but our love always defeats all and we found our way back to each other.

 

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU EACH REALISE/ACCEPT THAT YOU WERE GAY?

LN: I never really wanted to accept the fact that I was attracted to guys. I tried to really fight the feelings by dating a lot of girls and I even ended up having a beautiful son through that phase at the age of 25. Immediately after my son was born I felt lost, guilty and battled with the feelings. I even changed cities from East London to Johannesburg, that’s how conflicted I was with my feelings. I started dating again in Joburg. At first, I dated a guy, everything felt good and I thought I’d finally found myself. From this first encounter, I never looked back until I found my better half Katlego.

KM: I’ve always known that I was different and that I liked guys. I’ve never been with a girl. Growing up, I used to be teased a lot for being soft and ended up enjoying the indoors more than the outdoors. I spent most of my time studying. At varsity I started dating guys, you could say that here I accepted myself and this boosted my confidence.

 

“Nobody knows our love as we do” – Lungile and Katlego

 

WHEN YOU CAME OUT TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS, WERE THEY ACCEPTING OF YOU? IF ACCEPTING OR NOT, HOW DID THIS MAKE YOU FEEL? DID IT MATTER TO YOU HOW THEY FELT?

LN: Coming out is never easy. For both of us, it has been a challenge. We felt that our love is too powerful to keep it to ourselves and we decided that whenever one of us is ready, we will deal with our respective families and friends individually and at our own pace with the support of the other. Funny thing is that we both expected the worst but fortunately, it was not all bad however there are family members that are still getting used to the idea. It’s always nice to have everyone’s full support but we were ready for the worst, as we had decided that we would continue to live our lives the best loving way we know.

 

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA RECENTLY HOW GARETH THOMAS WAS FORCED TO SHARE HIS HIV STATUS PUBLICLY. THIS HAPPENS REGULARLY  IN THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY. WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR COMING OUT, WAS IT A DECISION YOU TOOK OF YOUR OWN ACCORD OR WERE YOU “ENCOURAGED” TO COME OUT FOR WHATEVER REASON?

LN: We were never forced to come out. When we started sharing pictures of our love for one another on our social media networks, our followers responded so positively and the little negativity we did receive didn’t put us down as our love was ready to overcome anything. We don’t believe people should be forced into doing something they are not ready to do, and that includes coming out of the closet. This is a personal decision and should happen in a person’s own pace and own time as we are all fighting different struggles.

 

ARE YOU MARRIED, ENGAGED OR COUPLED UP? ARE THERE PLANS TO ADD A CHILD OR TWO TO GROW THE FAMILY?

LN: We have been living together for more than 5 years. We moved in together just after two months of dating and we wanna get married soon, just before my babe turns 30yrs. We are considering both, adoption and surrogacy, as we have so much love to give to another child. We love being dads. 

 

WHAT DO YOU TWO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

LN: We are usually together in our spare time or else we’re attending events that we partner with as Brand Influencers. Given half a chance we are home either cooking or entertaining friends.

 

DO YOU PREFER TO EAT IN OR EAT OUT? CHICKEN OR BEEF? PIZZA OR SALAD? FINE DINING OR TAKEOUT?

LN: Definitely fine dining! Katlego loves chicken and pizza and I love lamb chops and steak.

 

HOW DO YOU BALANCE LIFE, WORK AND SOCIAL COMMITMENTS?

LN: Sharing our schedules so that there’s no unforeseen conflicts. When we’re apart, we’re always chatting with each other. Communication is key.

 

IF YOU HAD A “DAY PASS” WHICH CELEBRITY CRUSH (LOCALLY) WOULD YOU USE IT ON?

LN: Lol… that’s a funny one. We really would never. We once spoke about this same topic, and if there would come a point in the future where we needed to do these wild things…it should be together. That said, we are not there yet and we still think we are enough for each other right now.

 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE DEALING WITH THE ACCEPTANCE OF THEIR OWN SEXUALITY VS THAT OF FAMILY/SOCIETY?

LN: Remember  that “Nobody knows our love as we do”

 

Find Lungile and Katlego via their Social Media handle: