South Africa's diverse glbtq community both thrives and struggles amid the contradictions between a conservative traditional culture and some of the most progressive gay rights legislation in the world.

Homosexuality certainly exists in rural South Africa, but visible gay life in South Africa seems to be an urban phenomenon. The major cities, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town, all have substantial gay communities.

Even smaller cities, such as Blomfontein, Port Elizabeth, and East London, are known as gay-friendly areas, while Knyna hosts the annual Pink Loerie Mardi Gras, which attracts gay men and lesbians from across the country.

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In the cities of South Africa, numerous businesses, from bars and restaurants to real estate offices, cater to glbtq customers. In addition, there are many cultural, political, sports, and religious organizations that welcome gay men and lesbians.

Both Johannesburg and Cape Town have annual Pride celebrations that attract large crowds. Cape Town is often described as the "gay capital of Africa."

As the most gay-welcoming African country, South Africa has become an important gay tourist destination, attracting visitors from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the rest of Africa.

Despite some homophobic politicians and cultural attitudes, the South African glbtq communities have also received significant support from such revered figures in the country as Nelson Mandela, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Dutch Reformed Church theologian Dr. Allan Boesak.

Many forms of ambiguous sexuality can be found throughout the traditional arts of Africa, including images of androgyny, hermaphroditism, and transvestism; and much of erotic sculpture and theater can also be seen as homoerotic.

With reports from hundreds of sub-Saharan African locales of male-male sexual relations and from about fifty of female-female sexual relations, it is clear that same-sex sexual relations existed in traditional African societies, though varying in forms and in the degree of public acceptance

The treatment of same-sex relationships in African literatures has been influenced by the traditional belief systems of various African societies, the imported views of Christianity and Islam, and the political and legal legacies of European colonialism.

In the United States, glbtq people have played an integral and often leading role in AIDS activism, greatly influencing AIDS treatment and advocacy.

A form of behavior modification that employs unpleasant and sometimes painful stimuli, aversion therapy was one of the more popular treatments for homosexuality and cross-dressing in the 1950s and 1960s.

Both parades and marches have served to render the glbtq community visible; whereas marches typically attempt to effect political change, parades and pride events affirm identity and community.

Lesbian and gay couples have been fighting for the freedom to marry since the dawn of the modern glbtq struggle for equality; despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage in the United States has been slow.

Sodomy laws, which provided the legal basis for police harassment of sexual minorities, were conclusively overturned by the United States Supreme Court in 2003, after more than half a century of efforts at reform.

South African activist Zackie Achmat has been a pivotal figure in his country's progress in the area of glbtq rights and in its response to AIDS.

Versatile British actor Simon Callow has played a wide variety of roles on the stage, in films, and on television, but has remarked on his special affinity for gay roles.

Somewhat to his chagrin, British stage and film actor Nigel Hawthorne was acclaimed as the first openly gay actor to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) is a worldwide federation of local and national groups dedicated to achieving equal rights for glbtq people.

Simon Nkoli was both the founder of South Africa's black gay movement and a prominent participant in the campaign for black freedom.

Although overt homosexuality is absent from William Plomer's novels and poems, the relevance of his sexuality to his work is evident.

After five novels which included suggested lesbianism, Mary Renault turned to open male homosexuality in the last nine, which included The Charioteer and eight celebrated historical novels set in ancient Greece.

Throughout his adult life, Cecil Rhodes, one of nineteenth-century Britain's most ambitious imperialists, conducted romantic friendships with younger male associates.