Meet Shahin Eskandar - Cape Town's Mr Gay South Africa finalist

There’s been much talk and hype about the first Mr Gay South Africa competition and the talk and hype seem to be hotting up as regional finals winners are announced.

First in was Chris Mcgregor who won the Mr Mardi Gras competition in Knysna and he and Mr Mardi Gras runner-up Tyrone Nell will represent the Eastern Cape in the Mr Gay South Africa finale in Pretoria in November.

Shahin Eskandar was next in the spotlight after recently winning the Cape Town regional finals at an event at The Glen Hotel. Clearly a favourite with the crowds in all three categories of judging (casual wear, underwear and formal wear), Shahin worked the ramp with charm and confidence. In second place was Charl van den Berg and he and Shahin will represent the Western Cape in the finale.

A total of five regions with two finalists from each region will compete for the title of Mr Gay South Africa. To add an interesting twist to the competition, there’ll be six “wild cards” thrown into the mix of 10 finalists. These six will be chosen by the directors of the competition and so far they are Leo Jan De Beer (second runner-up in Mr Mardi Gras), Karel Petzer and Quentin Saunders.

The Pink Tongue chatted to Shahin Eskandar about his win, his life in South Africa and his world.

 

About 6 months ago a friend jokingly suggested that I enter the Mr Gay South Africacompetition and that sparked some curiosity in me about taking part. I think it is ahuge responsibility for anybody who wants to become Mr Gay South Africa and itwon’t be an easy task, so I thought about it for 2 days, did some research and alsospoke to one of the directors of the competition and then decided to “just do it”.

I told myself “why not? Why don’t you go out there and show the world what youmade of?” Different feelings and emotions followed and I got nervous but my innervoice was pushing me to rise to the challenge.

It was an unreal feeling because I did not expect it at all. I was asking myself “is hecalling my name?” Then it sunk in and I accepted the fact it was me and it made mefeel very, very happy and proud.

Winning is a great feeling and it made me feel proud of myself which helps me to be anicer person. I feel like I have a responsibility now to act and behave like a realwinner in a way that I must watch what I am doing in the public and become anexample of a good and decent gay person. It’s a sweet and unique feeling to win thecompetition.

It was quite interesting because we all bonded in a very short period and also laugheda lot and shared feelings and opinions with each other. It was really wonderful andnow whenever we see each other we have a topic to talk about and bring smiles to ourfaces. 

Iran is a beautiful country with thousands years of civilisation and history and thepeople are very friendly, warm hearted and brave. Not many people know about mycountry and whoever I talk to about it, thinks that we are part of the Arab world, thatit’s in the middle of the desert and that it’s very hot. Yes, it is very hot but whatnobody realises is that often there is snow in winter, sometimes 80cm deep. Iran hasits own different language (Farsi) and culture and I recommend to anybody who iscurios about history and beautiful nature, Iran is a great place to visit.

In Iran when they talk about South Africa, it’s always about the beautiful beaches andwhat a great destination it is for people to go and visit.

The people – they have chosen a goal (true democracy) and they are working hardtogether at reaching that goal. Hand in hand, they show the world that thay are aproud nation.

No, not at all.

I left because I wanted to have the real freedom that I deserve as a human being. I wanted to be true to myself and I did not want to pretend to family or friends to besomebody that I wasn’t. Also, I wanted to expand my profession and my opportunities as a graphic designer and I thought that South Africa would be a good place to do this.That was three and a half years ago and I’m still here!

It was difficult at first and I had to have some arguments with myself because in my country and my culture it’s not something that is spoken about. It was difficult tounderstand what to do. These days it has become much easier because of the media and the internet. But once I revealed the truth to myself the feeling inside was greatand I was proud of myself. It felt like someone had just given me wings and I wanted to fly. It was beautiful. I realised that when you fight for your acceptance and realitythe prize you give to yourself is peace of mind, and only you will know how precious that is.

After I finished my two year military service I went to Turkey and did modelling forone year. I then returned to Iran and studied a course in graphic design then workedfor 7 years as a graphic designer.

Then I moved to South Africa and worked for an advertising company in Durban for about a year, then eight months in PTA and then moved to Cape Town seven monthsago. I’m still working as a graphic designer and enjoying it very much.

I love swimming so I swim 4 times a week. I also do a spinning class and a rowingsession at gym each week. I don’t bother much with the weights and the dumbbells and that kind of training! I also try to eat healthy food and that includes lots green stuff, fruits and vegetables.

I believe in and try live by the saying “talk well, think well and act well” and I think to follow this simple rule then emotionally I’ll be okay. I also believe that we should always have respect for everybody, no matter what the reason is for them being inyour life - positive or negative because they are there to teach you something. If thenegative things in life did not exist we would never taste and feel the happiness and the positive. A good balance is also important, both inside you and also through youin the world. I am kind of crazy so I can talk forever about this. I just like it.

I read lots of books on spirituality and I enjoy authors like Deepak Chopra and SylviaBrowne because they can teach us things that we can perform in our lives every day and things that we can share with other people. I read somewhere that if you want to learn more then you should teach the things you know to the people who are eager to learn and by doing that you will grow more.

Every competition will always have a winner. I think that we, as representatives of the gay community, can only have a true winner when our basic human rights are granted to all our gay brothers and sisters in South Africa and the world. We are all a small part of this process and we must keep the engine of hope running for a better world for all of us.