Grade 10, PUSH
The story is about a girl named Thando, who was a lesbian, and her family and the community did not approve or like it. Meaning they were homophobic.
Thando was an eighteen-year-old girl who lived with her mother (Mpho) who is a doctor, her father (Sipho) who is a police man, and then there were two brothers. Thabo, who was the oldest, was done with school and now working as an assistant teacher at a primary school, and Jabulani, who was now doing his second year in varsity.
One day, Thando went out with her friends to a party, and she was having so much more fun than stressing on how she was going to tell her family that she was a lesbian. She then spent the night at one of her friends’ houses. She then asked her friend for some advice on how should she tell her family about her sexuality, while she knew they were not going to approve it. Her friend told her to sit down with her family and talk to them; maybe would accept her and support her. She then decided to keep it to herself and not tell her family.
A few weeks later her brother Thabo went to her and asked her if she was fine, because she had been acting strange, and she’s now dressing up like a boy. She then thought about a story she was going to tell him . She told him that she feels more comfortable in men’s clothing than women’s. He believed her and let her be. The next day she decided to tell her brother Thabo about her sexuality. Thando called Thabo and they sat down, and she told him. He was not shocked, nor surprised. He then told her that he knew from the start that she was not straight, and she made him promise not to tell their parents, and he agreed.
Thando’s parents saw that her behavior had changed the past few days, and the people in the community were starting to talk about Thando being a lesbian, and her being a disgrace to both her family and the society. They took Thando, sat her down, and talked to her. They asked her if what was said by the people in the community was true or not. She kept quiet, and her father asked her again, and she answered him, saying she was lesbian and she could not keep it in anymore, because it had been killing her for years now. Her father stood up and told her how she was a disgrace and a disappointment to the family; they didn’t accept it that their daughter was a lesbian, and her father said that he wouldn’t have a child who is lesbian or gay, and if she did not stop what she was doing, he would disown her. Thando was now broken inside, knowing that her parents did not support her and would disown her if she did not stop being who she really was (a lesbian).
It had been weeks now that Thando’s parents did not approve of her sexuality. She had even become the topic of the community. Thando sat in her room all alone, thinking to herself that her parents not accepting her showed that they didn’t love her and they didn’t care about her feelings, but they cared about what people were going to say. Her mother Mpho then made peace that her daughter was a lesbian, and she had to accept her and support her. She realised that they would end up losing their daughter. Her mother tried talking to her father but he did not approve of it.
A few months went by and her brother talked to their father. Thabo told him that if he did not accept his daughter, it would kill her slowly inside, and he also threatened to leave with Thando and never come back home. The father then realised that if he doesn’t give Thando a chance he would end up losing both his daughter and son. It was hard for him but he made peace with it. He spoke to Thando, and saw how broken she was, and he told her that her would support her from now on, no matter what.
Thando was now at peace and happy again with her family. They now all happily supported Thando as a family.