A short distance away from lovely Cape Town, yet worlds away in time and purpose, lies Robben Island, the long-term, hard labor prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. Every gay person should be able to identify with the struggle that was the

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A short distance away from lovely Cape Town, yet worlds away in time and purpose, lies Robben Island, the long-term, hard labor prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. Every gay person should be able to identify with the struggle that was the anti-apartheid movement and Nelson Mandela's ultimate triumph of becoming the first president of the new South Africa (and a gay-friendly one at that). Indigenous African leaders, Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and British soldiers and civilians, women, and anti-apartheid activists, including Mandela and Robert Sobukwe (the founding leader of the Pan Africanist Congress) were all imprisoned on the island. Today, ex-political prisoners take visitors on emotional tours of the prison and the grounds. Stand for a moment in Mandela's shoes in his tiny prison cell, and you won't help but remember the moment forever.

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