Tragedy for Gay Couple in Kiss Photo that Rocked South Africa

I did not write about it at the time that I saw the photo even though I thought it was beautiful and was a glimpse of a world not polluted by anti-gay prejudice. The photo was of two college students - Mark Dean Brown and Bjorn Czepan shown above - in South Africa who decided to join in a kiss-in that takes place annually. The photo landed on the front page of the university newspaper and triggered huge controversy. All over a simple and pure photo of innocent love. Now, the story has turned to tragedy and one of the lovers/friends is dead and the other in critical condition following a car accident. My heart goes out to the families of both young men (and that of a third injured in the crash). I cannot help but contrast the love shown in the photo with the hatred disseminated daily by anti-gay Christianists. These young men understood the message of love. Far too many Christians do not. Here are highlights of the sad story from the Guardian:
*
Theirs was a kiss that stunned a conservative town. When a moment of passion for two men was published on a newspaper front page it provoked fierce debate in one of South Africa's oldest communities.
*
In a single photograph Bjorn Czepan and Mark Dean Brown became unwitting symbols for tolerance and gay rights at the predominantly Afrikaner, rugby-playing Stellenbosch University.
*
Just a month later, there is a tragic postscript. Czepan is dead and Brown is critically ill in hospital.
*
The students were involved in a car crash in the suburb of Woodstock, last week, the Cape Times reported. Czepan, from Germany, was killed, and Brown was put on a ventilator at the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital.
*
Thefleeting moment of fame for the Cape Town University couple came at last month's annual Soen in die Laan (Kiss in the Avenue) event at the nearby university, when lesbian and gay students joined the traditionally heterosexual occasion .
*
The photograph was published on the front page of the student newspaper Die Matie, triggering furious debate on social networking sites. Copies were torn up or defaced in protest but there were supportive comments from gay students.
*
Matthew Gardiner, a friend of Czepan, told the Cape Times: "Bjorn couldn't understand [why] the Soen in die Laan situation could make so much of an impact, but he was also very proud that he had been able to help people come to terms with their sexuality through that kiss."