Leon de Beer was a South African politician who served as a member of the South African Parliament from 1987 to 1989. His election was notable because he was the first candidate in the country to appeal to

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

voters.

Political career

De Beer's 1987 campaign ran advertisements in the gay publication ''Exit'' and received a great deal of press as a result of his support for the gay community. His election was controversial not only because he supported the gay community, but because he was a member of the ruling National Party, which was responsible for both

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and previously enacted anti-sodomy laws. His campaign promise was twofold: to advance gay rights in the South African political arena and to reinstate Hillbrow as a whites-only area. De Beer ultimately won the election and ousted the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) ( af, Progressiewe Federale Party) was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For it ...

incumbent Alf Widman, a victory largely attributed to the white gay community of

Hillbrow Hillbrow () is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty, prostitution and crime. In the 1970s it was an Apartheid-design ...

. In 1988, de Beer, along with several other politicians, was charged with

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

and he resigned in January 1989. He was convicted and was given a two-year prison sentence, of which he served eight months. After release, he served briefly on the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

's south Free State regional executive in the 1990s and attempted to apply to stand as a candidate for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

but was turned down. He also worked as a director for the Anglo-Boer War Foundation, which became a source of controversy after his previous conviction became known to the Foundation's organizers. Leon de Beer died in June 2016 in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

References

1959 births 2016 deaths People from Gauteng National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) LGBT rights activists from South Africa {{Gauteng-politician-stub