Community Media for Development/ CMFD Productions has launched the pilot episode of the radio drama “Outside the Lines.” This 20-minute pilot was created as a lead up to a thirteen-part series exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) life in South Africa.

Follow Eric, Thembi, Nthabiseng and Fabulous Flora as they fall in love, make mistakes, and above all stick together deal with relationships, being friends, safe sex and helping a friend living with HIV.

According to research conducted by CMFD, despite the promise of full constitutional rights, there remains a great deal of socialised and institutionalised homophobia in South Africa.

“Formative research for the drama showed that the LGBTI community receives little support or acknowledgement from government programmes, health and social services, educational institutions, and even family and heterosexual peers, “ said Tonya Graham who is co-ordinating the radio drama. “There is very little communication around LGBTI issues, and many LGBTI people, especially those living in townships, feel extremely isolated and alone.“

'Outside the Lines' will be the first serial drama in South Africa to focus solely on the LGBTI community. It aims to reflect the experiences of this often unheard community, encourage understanding, and reduce discrimination. It also aims to raise awareness in the community about HIV/AIDs, health, and human rights.

Focus group discussions held in collaboration with the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, OUT LGBT Wellbeing and the Soweto HIV/AIDS Counsellors Association (SOHACA) helped to ensure that the dialogue and characters rang true to life.

“We can finally see ourselves in this drama.’ said one of the participants in the focus group, “The drama shows we are just like anyone else - we have friends, we like to have parties, and we fall in love. It just happens that we fall in love with the same sex.”

The storyline was based on a comic book developed for the Gay and Lesbian Archives by Andre Croucamp and Neil Verlaque-Napper. Funding support for the formative research and the pilot episode was granted by Atlantic Philanthropies. The telephone numbers of LGBTI support hotlines operate by OUT in Pretoria and The Triangle Project in Cape Town will be included in broadcasts where appropriate.

What's Been Said
"Bravo and greatest thanks for this invaluable and much-needed material, and in a format which is effective at getting messages across to a broad spectrum of people and communities (and of all identities). Here's to thinking outside of the box, and creativity which draws strength and inspiration from deliberately stepping "outside the lines"! " - Janet Feldman, ActAlive

"We can finally see ourselves in this drama. The drama shows we are just like anyone else - we have friends, we like to have parties, and we fall in love. It just happens that we fall in love with the same sex." - one of the participants in the focus group.