Article | January 1st, 2025
Simon Nkoli: The Spark in the Fight for LGBTQ+ and Civil Rights in South Africa
By Nicholas O'Connor
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PHOTO: SS Taste Of Southern Africa
The name of Simon Nkoli represents a part of LGBTQ+ history: it is a bright, ever-shining lighthouse that has been guiding numerous activist groups across the entire globe. An outspoken champion for racial and sexual justice, the life of Simon Nkoli was one filled with battling along many lines.
Early Life: The Seeds of Activism
Born in Soweto, South Africa, in 1957, Simon Nkoli grew up during the height of apartheid. The racial segregation and oppression he experienced around him instilled in him a sense of systemic injustice. As a young man, Nkoli joined anti-apartheid movements like the Congress of South African Students and the United Democratic Front, determined to dismantle institutionalized racism.
But Nkoli was to face another battle: he was a gay man in a society that criminalized homosexuality and stigmatized LGBTQ+ identities. Rather than compartmentalize his struggles, Nkoli embraced them as interconnected causes.
PHOTO: SS The Conservation
Fighting for LGBTQ+ Rights
Nkoli's activism for LGBTQ+ equality started in earnest with his early 1980s membership in the Gay Association of South Africa. He soon grew disenchanted with the group's lack of inclusiveness regarding race. In 1988, Nkoli co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Organization of Witwatersrand (GLOW), South Africa's first multiracial LGBTQ+ group.
With GLOW, Nkoli was responsible for organizing South Africa's first Pride march in 1990. This event was groundbreaking not only as a celebration of LGBTQ+ identities but also as a protest against systemic oppression. Under his leadership, Pride in South Africa became a platform for both LGBTQ+ rights and the fight against apartheid.
PHOTO: SS NBJC
The Delmas Treason Trial
Nkoli’s activism put him at significant personal risk. In 1984, he was arrested alongside 21 other anti-apartheid activists during the Delmas Treason Trial. Facing the death penalty, Nkoli bravely revealed his sexual orientation in court, becoming one of the first openly gay Black men to do so in South Africa. His admission was a watershed moment, challenging homophobic perceptions within the anti-apartheid movement and beyond.
Nkoli was imprisoned for four years before being acquitted in 1988. The imprisonment nurtured his resolve for seeking justice.
HIV/AIDS Advocacy
The beginning of the AIDS crisis throughout the 1980s and 1990s mobilized him into being an outspoken voice of awareness and support. HIV-positive, Nkoli was tireless in his fight against stigma and educating the public, including South Africa's LGBTQ+ communities. He put a face to the epidemic and paved the way for more inclusive healthcare policies.
PHOTO: SS dailymaverick
Legacy: A Constitution for All
Perhaps, however, the most concrete conclusion Nkoli has received was the inclusion of prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the post-apartheid constitution of the Republic of South Africa; as the first constitution to this date, it adopted provisions in 1996 directly connected with his tireless work.
Remembering Simon Nkoli
Simon Nkoli would die of AIDS in 1998, but the memory of his life remained alive. Today, he would be remembered as a trailblazer who bridged gaps, fought for justice across divides, and reminded us that the struggle for equality is fundamentally tied and true liberation leaves nobody behind.
Nkoli once said, "I am black and I am gay. I cannot separate the two parts of me into secondary or primary struggles. They will be all one struggle."
Let his words and his life inspire us in our continuing work to build a world where justice knows no boundaries.
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