Moffie and Stabane: LGBT Community divided over the use of terms

In the black communities, the terms moffie and stabane, are not used in the context of respect. They are frequently utilized as the power to put someone down. Its rare to find occasions where they are employed in a positive manner. 

Despite this, there is quite a number of people who identify as Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual that accept to be referred to using such terms. But why allow an individual to call you using names that are meant to de-humanize you?. 

Well! their reasoning is that, these are names in their respective languages that describe who they are and do not feel ashamed owning them. They say that there are no other names in their languages that they might use, and when told that these terms carry negative ideas about the community and therefore should not be used but use the word 'gay' instead, they accuse the group of being too forward since they prefer English name over names in their languages. 

An invitation  poster to 'Stabane And Friends' event.

The other group who is against the use of the terms and refer to them as 'derogatory terms', are saying that the names are embedded with negative connotations with them and therefore using them will be the same as agreeing with whatever ideas they carry about the community. They suggest instead the use of the term 'gay', but when told the same name has been used as the form of an insult, their reply is that the word  has less stigma attached to it and is respected when compared to the words Moffie and Stabane. 

There is no text that can be obtained online that goes into the origins of these terms. But the word Moffie is used in some Xhosa communities in parts of the Eastern Cape Province but not spelt in the same way. In these societies, the term refers to cows that lack the ability to conceive. The word is used interchangeable with the word 'Idlolo' which means the same thing and can be applied when referring to women who have the same problem. The term is considered to be very offensive in most communities in the Xhosa speaking province. 

There is a couple of thesis that can be found online that used these terms despite a portion of the LGBT+ community not approving. And a prominent member of this community, Somizi Mhlongo, used the term 'stabane' in an interview conducted with Real Talk With Anele a few years back and he used it referring to the wider community. 

Since there is no consensus on the use of these terms, people should be cautious when utilizing such names so not to upset other people. For example, do not use the names when referring to the wider community and only use it when you refer to yourself or close friends whom you certain they will not mind being called with the term. And people who are not part of the community, heterosexuals, should not be given a chance to use the word when referring to the members of this community and only our people should have the luxury of utilizing the term among each other that is if the other party accepts. 

Name calling is another form of bullying and therefore if people see these terms as derogatory and do not want to be referred with, then people must learn to respect that. It is only this way that we will have peace in this community regarding this matter. 

N.B: the text is based on the Facebook Group post that was published in 2021 asking people's opinion on this matter.