Ex-Mr. Gay World Hit With Gag Order Over Resignation
Former Mr. Gay World South Africa pageant winner Louw Breytenbach was slapped with a suit by the Mr. Gay World Foundation last week over a statement he made over his short tenure as a winner, the South African newspaper The Citizen reports.
The 31-year old Breytenbach�won the competition in October, but the�South African�human rights activist refused to sign the final contract to be Mr. Gay World, The Citizen reported last December.
"According to a statement, Breytenbach resigned after refusing to sign the pageant's contract, calling it 'unconstitutional and opaque.'"
Breytenbach was crowned Mr Gay World in October 2021, the first South African to take the crown in 10 years, since Francois Nel won the title in 2011, and Charl van den Berg in 2010.
The legal dispute is over Breytenbach's artist representation. "The contract stipulates that Mr Gay World must be his exclusive agent when he lands any bookings or acting roles," reports The Citizen. "Breytenbach says he already had an agent in the field of TV."
"I don't need them to manage whatever TV opportunities I get. My suggestion was that they manage me based on opportunities pertaining to the pageant and my role as Mr Gay World," he said in December.
"Breytenbach also alleged that the foundation is trying to force his publicist, Gavin Prins, to retract a press release that he sent to his media contact list about this in December last year," writes The Citizen.
In his statement this week, Breytenbach restated his position: "The reason I entered the Mr Gay SA and Mr Gay World competitions respectively, was never about the title. I am passionate about charity, the work I started even before the competitions.�
"My intention was to use the platform to add a voice to the lgbtqia+ community, the Gates of Hope as well as Future Step. As winners, we tend to be blinded by the glitz and glam the contest brings."
He adds: "there are real problems out there and we as winners, need to get our hands dirty and work. My reason for resigning was never to tarnish the reputation of the organisation, but rather because of value differences."�
He shared his belief that the South African gay community is already broken and highlighted his intention to build the community through his activism.�
"I was excited when I was crowned with lots of plans to build the gay community. But unfortunately, I could not achieve this dream," said Breytenbach.
"After he exited the title, it was taken over by�Bonginkosi Ndima�who also resigned shortly thereafter," the Citizen adds. The publication reached out to the�Mr Gay World South Africa Foundation�for comment and had not yet received a response at the time of writing.�