Leon de Beer

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 voters.^[1]

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 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.^[2] De Beer ultimately won the election and ousted the Progressive Federal Party incumbent Alf Widman, a victory largely attributed to the white gay community of Hillbrow.^[3]

In 1988, de Beer, along with several other politicians, was charged with electoral fraud and he resigned in January 1989. He was convicted and was given a two-year prison sentence, of which he served eight months.^[4]

After release, he served briefly on the African National Congress's south Free State regional executive in the 1990s and attempted to apply to stand as a candidate for the Democratic Party 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.^[5][6]

Leon de Beer died in June 2016 in Bloemfontein.^[7]

References