What EXACTLY is the point of the Feather Awards? Here's the 411...

The announcement of the 2018 Feathers Awards nominees got tongues wagging after some members of the LGBTIQ+ community felt like it was not a representation of the community.  

The Twitter streets didn't hold back when they questioned the "point of these awards anyway". 

TshisaLIVE approached the organisers for some answers...

"The Feather Awards were initially launched as a tongue in cheek celebration of high-profile personalities  - these personalities are by turn inspirational, humorous, scandalous and memorable individuals.

"From the outset, the nominee list has comprised of members of the LGBTIQ+ and straight communities. Over the years the Feathers has broadened its scope to incorporate the struggles of sexual minorities across the African continent as part of their discourse," the Feather Award organisers told TshisaLIVE.

Many tweeps complained that the awards "paraded" themselves as a celebration of the  the LGBTIQ+ community and a platform to highlight issues that they faced on a daily basis but it didn't live up to the aims.  

The organisers denied the accusations and emphasised they were doing a lot of work behind the scenes in the LGBTIQ+  community and just because the event itself was "cheeky" it didn't mean they don't do their part.

They also highlighted two of the Feathers platform’s flagship initiatives, which are the Community Dialogues they launched in 2016 and Law Enforcement Agency Training.

"To date, the Feathers has rolled out a series of educational and training programmes aimed at empowering both the LGBTIQ+ community and heterosexual community members about various issues and challenges faced by this community."

Here are some of the tweets that had harsh words to say about the Feathers.

Do you think they were justified?