Simon Nkoli

Simon Tseko Nkoli (also spelled Simon Nkodi; 26 November 1957 – 30 November 1998) was an anti-apartheid, gay rights, and AIDS activist in South Africa. Active in the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), the United Democratic Front (UDF), and the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA), he was arrested as part of the Delmas Treason Trial in 1984. After his release in 1988, he founded the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) and organized South Africa's first pride parade. His activism influenced the African National Congress (ANC) to enshrine gay rights in the South African constitution. One of the first South Africans to disclose that he was living with HIV/AIDS, Nkoli founded the Township AIDS Project to provide HIV education to Black South Africans. After his death from AIDS-related complications, his colleagues established the Treatment Action Campaign which successfully lobbied the government to expand access to HIV treatment.

Early life and family

Nkoli was born on 26 November 1957 in Phiri, Soweto, to a seSotho-speaking family. Because of the apartheid-era pass laws, his parents were considered squatters, and Nkoli periodically had to hide them from law enforcement. He later wrote about this experience in an essay entitled "Wardrobes".

After Nkoli's parents separated, he moved to Orange Free State to live with his grandparents who were tenant farmers to a white landlord. He worked with his grandparents and attended primary school. To avoid having to leave school to work on the farm full-time, Nkoli ran away to live with his mother, Elizabeth, in Sebokeng. Elizabeth was employed as a domestic worker and later a sales clerk, while his step-father, Elias, was a hotel chef. He had three siblings. Nkoli's family was poor, and their home was small and overcrowded.

As a young adult, Nkoli met his first boyfriend, a white bus driver, by responding to an ad for a Black pen pal in a teen magazine. Nkoli's mother, Elizabeth, disapproved of their relationship and consulted multiple sangomas ( traditional healers), some of whom said he was bewitched while others found nothing wrong with him. Elizabeth also brought Nkoli to a Christian clergyman and a psychologist in an attempt to change his sexual orientation. To her surprise, the psychologist was also gay and suggested that Nkoli pose as his boyfriend's servant so they could live together without arousing suspicion. Eventually, Elizabeth accepted Nkoli's sexual orientation. She supported him throughout his life, including his many arrests and the police harassment she experienced due to his anti-apartheid activism.

Anti-apartheid and gay rights activism (1974-1984)

In high school, Nkoli was involved with an organization called Young Christian Students. After imprisoned activist Johannes Matsobane died at Robben Island in 1978, they helped with funeral arrangements by raising money and organizing local businesses to close for the day. Nkoli also spearheaded a petition opposing Afrikaans as the language of instruction at his school.While attending secretarial college in Johannesburg, Nkoli joined the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and became secretary for its newly formed Transvaal branch. His high school friend Gcina Malindi served as chair. COSAS worked closely with the United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition of anti-apartheid organizations. Nkoli spoke at meetings and participated in marches, boycotts, and sit-ins. Additionally, Nkoli worked at the South African Institute of Race Relations and organized food and legal aid for prisoners through the Detainees Support Committee.

Frequently arrested for his anti-apartheid activism, Nkoli was held for three months in 1976 and seven months in 1981. The police often showed up to arrest Nkoli at his home in Sebokeng. If they did not find him, they would threaten his mother and tell her they would kill him. Malindi has described informing Nkoli's family about his arrests; Nkoli's distraught mother would "interrogate" Malindi about Nkoli's location and shout: "But you were together at this meeting, how come my son is detained and you are not?" Malindi tried to reassure Nkoli's family by telling them that his activism would help achieve freedom for Black South Africans.

In 1983, Nkoli came out as gay in an interview with '' City Press.'' Due to the homophobia of some of his fellow COSAS activists, the group held lengthy discussions about whether he should give up his position as secretary. Ultimately, 80% of the group voted against it. Around 1982, Nkoli joined the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA), a mostly white organization which considered itself to be "apolitical". Others have called it "accommodationist", "apartheid-friendly", and "looking for gay power within the current racist political structure". When Nkoli joined, GASA held its meetings in white-only spaces, a practice he persuaded them to change. In an attempt to create more Black-friendly spaces within GASA, Nkoli started the Saturday Group and recruited members via GASA's newsletter and the ''City Press'', including members from Johannesburg and the townships. During Nkoli's imprisonment, the Saturday Group was discontinued.

Delmas Treason Trial (1984-1988)

In response to rent increases, protests known as the Vaal uprising began in the townships on 3 September 1984. Nkoli organized and spoke at rallies in support of rent strikes. Later that month, student activist Joseph Sithole was killed. At Sithole's funeral, the local authorities attempted to restrict the number of mourners and forbade freedom songs, banners, and marching. The police attacked the mourners by shooting, beating, and firing teargas at them. About 600 people were arrested, including Nkoli, for attending an "illegal gathering".

Around the time of Nkoli's arrest, his step-father died. For at least 9 months, he was held without charge, mostly in solitary confinement. He was interrogated about his political views and asked questions about his sexuality such as: "Why do you like fucking white men?" In June 1985, Nkoli was charged with treason, murder, and terrorism. Falsely accused of killing someone by throwing a stone at a protest, Nkoli was denied bail. A potential sentence for these charges was the death penalty. Twenty one other political leaders were also charged, including Gcina Malindi, Terror Lekota, Popo Molefe, Tom Manthata, and Moss Chikane. Collectively known as the Delmas 22 or the Vaal 22, most were affiliated with the UDF. Their years long trial was called the Delmas Treason Trial, and their legal team included George Bizos, Zak Yacoob, Priscilla Jana, and Caroline Heaton-Nicholls.

In November 1985, Nkoli was transferred to Modderbee Prison where he was held with the rest of the Delmas 22. Some of his co-defendants expressed homophobic beliefs after discovering a love letter between two male prisoners. In response, Nkoli came out as gay, sparking several weeks of debate among the defendants. Fearing that Nkoli's sexual orientation would decrease their support, some of the Delmas 22 advocated for him to be tried separately. They eventually changed their minds and accepted his sexuality. As news of the trial spread, Nkoli gained supporters in Europe and North America, inspiring anti-apartheid activism, especially in the gay community. A group of Canadians, including Tim McCaskell, founded the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee in Toronto. European anti-apartheid activists, many of whom were gay, sent Nkoli over 150 Christmas cards in 1986. Nkoli later stated that the ANC's view of gay rights was positively influenced by his global support campaign.

Despite Nkoli's growing fame as the "gay Mandela", GASA declined to support Nkoli or advocate for his acquittal. Although Nkoli had been at a GASA meeting when the alleged crime took place, GASA declined to corroborate his alibi. GASA did not make an official statement about his trial until 1986 during which they appeared to justify his imprisonment. Because of GASA's behavior towards Nkoli, some members of the international gay community criticized them as racist and advocated for their expulsion from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA). At ILGA's annual meeting in 1986, GASA representative Kevan Botha made a speech defending their decision not to actively support Nkoli. He spoke about GASA's "multiracial work" and stated that they were apolitical. Initially, Nkoli advocated against ousting GASA from ILGA, but he decried their lack of support, especially after Botha's speech. At their 1987 meeting, ILGA voted against expelling GASA but decided to suspend their membership, and GASA disbanded soon after.

While in prison, Nkoli was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Nkoli was released on bail in June 1987. The following year, Nkoli and ten of his co-defendants were acquitted, while the other eleven were found guilty and sentenced.

Founding GLOW and TAP (1988-1989)

In April 1988, Nkoli co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) with Beverley Palesa Ditsie and Linda Ngcobo. GLOW was the first "non-racial" and first township-based gay rights organization, it reached Black South Africans who did not feel welcome at white-majority organizations. GLOW aimed to be a place for "All South Africans who are Committed to a Non-Racist, Non-Sexist, Non- Discriminatory Democratic Future". In contrast to GASA, GLOW was politically minded and involved in both the gay rights and anti-apartheid movement. Nkoli helped open a Black gay bar in Soweto called the Glowbar which GLOW used as a meeting place. Two years later, Nkoli reported that GLOW had to stop meeting at the bar after the police arrested the owner and the new owner told them he did not want gay clientele. By the early 1990s, GLOW had multiple branches throughout Gauteng and 1,000 members.

Nkoli noticed a need for HIV education for Black South African communities; according to Nkoli, the apartheid government did not provide HIV education materials in Black South African languages and denied that AIDS existed among the population. Typically, community-based HIV prevention efforts targeted white men. Nkoli and GLOW helped to establish the Township AIDS Project (TAP) in Soweto in 1989. The organization provided HIV prevention and education programs, especially in the townships. Nkoli viewed the "abstinence, be faithful, use a condom" approach to HIV education as ineffective, instead promoting sex-positive, harm reduction strategies. Their efforts were hindered by a lack of funding and legal barriers which, for example, meant they could not show videos about safer sex or use dildos to demonstrate how to use a condom.

After his release from prison, Nkoli was contacted by supporters around the world who asked him to visit. At first, the South African government denied him a passport but eventually responded to external pressure. Between July and September 1989, Nkoli travelled to 26 cities throughout Europe and North America raising money for TAP and speaking about apartheid, gay rights, and AIDS in South Africa. He began his trip at the ILGA conference in Vienna and ended it at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York City. San Francisco, Manhattan, and Atlanta honored him with Simon Nkoli Days. In Chicago, he spoke at a conference called "From Stonewall to Sharpeville", where he told the audience: "Freedom is what we want in that country; and that is what we are going to get!" The tour was coordinated in part by the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee and James Credle from the National Association of Black and White Men Together. By the following year, TAP had received enough donations to officially open offices in Soweto.

South Africa's first pride parade (1990)

In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the ANC was unbanned by the apartheid government. That August, Nkoli spoke at the opening ceremony of the third Gay Games in Vancouver, Canada. Nkoli spoke in support of the Gay Games' ban on South African athletes, even though it meant that he could not participate as a runner. He also talked about his desire for the end of apartheid and for South Africans to be able to compete at future Gay Games.
Along with fellow activists Beverley Palesa Ditsie and Edwin Cameron, Nkoli organised the first pride parade in South Africa in October 1990. Beforehand, Nkoli gave a speech at the South African Institute of Race Relations. He stated: "I am black and I am gay. I cannot separate the two parts into secondary and primary struggles. ..So, when I fight for my freedom, I must fight against both oppressors." The march of about 800 people walked from Braamfontein to Hillbrow in Johannesburg chanting "Out of Closets— Into the Streets", "Not the Church, Not the State— We Ourselves Decide Our Fate", and "We’re here! We’re queer! We’re everywhere." Some participants wore paper bags over their heads to protect their identities but later recounted taking off the bags once it started raining. The speeches continued after the march, with Nkoli telling attendees to kiss the person next to them.

Around 1990, Nkoli publicly disclosed that he was living with HIV, becoming one of the first openly HIV-positive African gay men. He founded Positive African Men, a support group for Black men living with HIV in Johannesburg.

South African Constitution and NCGLE (1989-1998)

Nkoli was instrumental in ensuring that gay rights were enshrined in the South African constitution. As early as 1989, he was in communication with ANC leaders like Thabo Mbeki, Ruth Mompati, and Nelson Mandela to pressure the ANC to take an official position in support of gay rights. When Albie Sachs asked GLOW to contribute to the process of creating South Africa's interim constitution, they gathered input from the LGB community and eventually proposed adding an "equality clause" prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The ANC agreed and included it in the interim constitution that went into effect in 1994.

The equality clause faced some pushback from conservative South Africans, and the LGB community mobilized to ensure it would be included in the final version of the constitution. In 1994, Nkoli, Zackie Achmat, and others co-founded the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE), a multi-racial coalition of more than 50 organizations, that prioritized organizing around the equality clause. The following year, an NCGLE delegation, including Nkoli and Ian McKellan, met with the newly elected President Nelson Mandela who reaffirmed the ANC's commitment to gay rights. The NCGLE's lobbying campaign was ultimately successful, making South Africa, in 1996, the first country in the world to explicitly prohibit discrimination against gay people in its constitution. Nkoli and the NCGLE also campaigned against South Africa's anti-sodomy laws, which were repealed in the last year of his life. However, discrimination against LGBTQ people has persisted in South Africa.

As the ILGA board member for the African region, Nkoli advocated for the ILGA conference to be held in South Africa. It was held in Johannesburg in 1999, after Nkoli's death.

In 1993, GLOW's co-founder Linda Ngcobo died of AIDS-related causes at age 28. Nkoli gave a eulogy in front of the GLOW logo, which featured a pink triangle and a Black power fist. Mourners performed songs and dances associated with political protests. According to Mark Gevisser, Nkoli led a call and response for gay rights. According to Nkoli, 25 members of GLOW died of AIDS-related causes between 1988 and 1998. Nkoli vocally criticized the South African government for its response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In an interview, he advocated writing letters to the Department of Health, saying "people are dying anyway without action. Why not die with action?" He planned to go on hunger strike in protest.

Death

For 12 years, Nkoli lived with HIV and was seriously ill during the last 4 years of his life. Although effective HIV treatment became available in 1996, Nkoli was unable to afford it. He went into a coma on 30 November 1998 and died at Johannesburg General Hospital.

His memorial service was held on 4 December at St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg, and his funeral was held on 10 December at the Mphatlalatsane Community Hall in Sebokeng. His coffin was draped in a rainbow flag and flowers, and many people spoke in tribute of him, including AIDS activist Prudence Mabele and his Delmas Treason Trial co-defendants Terror Lekota, Popo Molefe, and Gcina Malinde. In obituaries, Zackie Achmat called him a "gay martyr" and Mark Gevisser called him: "A leading light of gay and AIDS activism". Achmat co-founded the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) soon after Nkoli's death.

Personal life

At the time of his trial, his partner was Roy Shepherd. They met at the Gay Christian Community, a non-denominational meeting based in Johannesburg. During Nkoli's trial and imprisonment, the two exchanged letters, and their relationship "sustained" Nkoli. A collection of their letters was published as part of the GALA Queer Archive under the title ''Till the Time of Trial: The Prison Letters of Simon Nkoli''. Excerpts from these letters were also published in the book ''Yes, I Am!: Writing by South African Gay Men''. In the last 5 years of Nkoli's life, he was in a relationship with Roderick Sharp.

Legacy

Gay Rights

Nkoli's imprisonment and subsequent coming out are considered important milestones in LGBTQ history in South Africa: it challenged notions of gayness as not African and anti-apartheid activists as exclusively heterosexual men. Additionally, it motivated anti-apartheid activists to think about the role of gay rights in a future South Africa. Nkoli's co-defendant, Terror Lekota, later stated: "How could we say that men and women like Simon, who had put their shoulders to the wheel to end apartheid, should now be discriminated against?" Nkoli influenced the attitude of the African National Congress towards being more supportive of gay rights. Through his work with GLOW and NCGLE, he helped to overturn anti-gay laws and ensure that gay rights were explicitly protected in the South African Constitution.

Visibility as an openly gay Black man was an important part of Nkoli's politics and activism, whether by coming out to the Delmas 22, organizing the country's first gay pride parade, or wearing t-shirts with gay slogans and imagery. Nkoli emphasized the intersectionality of the gay rights and anti-apartheid movements, as demonstrated by his speech at South Africa's first pride march: "I cannot be free as a black man if I am not free as a gay man." In an essay entitled "Wardrobes", Nkoli compared his experiences of racism to his experiences of homophobia and spoke in favor of visibility:

the closet I have come out of is similar to the wardrobe my relieved parents stepped out of when I unlocked them after the police left. If you are black in South Africa, the inhuman laws of apartheid closet you. If you are gay in South Africa, the homophobic customs and laws of this society closet you. If you are black and gay in South Africa, well, then it really is all the same closet, the same wardrobe. Inside is darkness and oppression. Outside is freedom.

HIV/AIDS Activism

As one of the first openly HIV-positive African gay men, Nkoli has been credited with influencing later AIDS activists to also disclose their status in an effort to fight HIV-related stigma.

Phumzile Mthethwa recounted Nkoli's death happening shortly after she and other AIDS activists arrived to visit him in the hospital; they returned to their office determined to "do something." Nkoli died because he could not afford effective HIV/AIDS treatment, while fellow activist Edwin Cameron was able to access treatment and so was able to live longterm with HIV/AIDS. Zackie Achmat, who noticed the difference between Nkoli and Cameron's health outcomes and also struggled to pay for his own medications, spoke at Nkoli's funeral calling for an organized campaign for treatment access. Soon afterwards, Achmat co-founded the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). TAC successfully lobbied the government to provide South Africans with the treatment that Nkoli was unable to access.

Representation in Media

Nkoli has been the subject of several films. Canadian filmmaker John Greyson created ''A Moffie Called Simon'' (1986) while a member of the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee. The short film covers Nkoli's imprisonment and the activism of gay Canadians in solidarity with him. It includes news footage and Nkoli's prison letters with his partner and Tim McCaskell. Nkoli and three other "murdered" South African AIDS activists are featured in ''Fig Trees'' (2009), Greyson's hybrid documentary-opera about Zackie Achmat and McCaskell. Alexander Chapman, as Nkoli, criticizes Bill Clinton and Bill Gates from his hospital bed with the line: "iPods and cell phones won’t lure me till you cure me now, Bill."

Melanie Chait's ''Out in Africa'' (1989), South Africa's first film about the gay rights movement, is about Nkoli and another gay anti-apartheid activist named Ivan Toms. Beverley Ditsie's ''Simon & I'' (2002) is a documentary about her friendship and activism with Nkoli. It includes interviews with people who knew him and footage from GLOW events, including the first pride parade.

In 2017, gay Xhosa musician Majola released a song called "Nkoli" on his album ''Boet/Sissy,'' Athi-Patra Ruga created a sculpture called ''Proposed Model for Tseko Simon Nkoli Memorial''.

At least two theater productions have been created in honor of Nkoli. Robert Colman's ''Your Loving Simon'' (2003) focused on Nkoli's imprisonment and the hundreds of letters he wrote during that time. The production featured two actors—one in the role of Nkoli and the other as a character representing all 21 of his co-defendants. In November 2023, ''Nkoli: The Vogue Opera'' premiered at Johannesburg's Market Theatre. Developed as ''GLOW: The Life and Trials of Simon Nkoli'', the production began in 2020 as a workshopped collaboration between South African composer Phillip Miller, the cast members, and various consultants who had known Nkoli (including his mother, fellow activist Beverly Ditsie, and defence lawyer Caroline Heaton-Nicholls). The final product incorporated opera, voguing and other aspects of Ballroom culture, hip-hop, rap, anti-Apartheid protest songs, and other elements. It was written by Miller and South African musician Gyre, and directed by British actor Rikki Beadle-Blair.

Honours

During Nkoli's post-acquittal speaking tour in 1989, several US cities declared Simon Nkoli Days, including San Francisco, Atlanta, and Manhattan. The following year, Nkoli spoke at the opening ceremony for Gay Games III in Vancouver, Canada. Along with Morris Kight, Nkoli served as Grand Marshal of the 1994 San Diego Pride. In October 1995, Nkoli and Phumzile Mtetwa were given an Equality Award for their gay rights activism at Stonewall's annual fundraising gala at the Royal Albert Hall.

In the year following his death, Nkoli was given the Felipa de Souza Award by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. He was also honored at the 10th anniversary of the gay pride parade that he had founded in Johannesburg, which was attended by thousands of participants. A street corner in Hillbrow was named after him, and his partner, Roderick Sharp, spoke at the dedication ceremony.

In the 2010s, the Simon Nkoli Centre for Men's Health provided HIV services at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. On World AIDS Day 2017, Stellenbosch University renamed the building housing their Equality and Disability offices after Nkoli. Two years later, the university's museum held an exhibit about Nkoli entitled: "Black Queer Visibility: Finding Simon". The exhibit was co-hosted by the Simon Nkoli Collective which also sponsors a memorial lecture in Nkoli's name. Ever year, the annual Feather Awards bestows a Simon Nkoli Award to recognize an individual for their contributions to the LGBTQ community. Winners have included David Tlale, Thandiswa Mazwai, Edwin Cameron, and Gloria Bosman.

Writing

* "Wardrobes: Coming out as a black gay activist in South Africa". In Cameron, Edwin; Gevisser, Mark (eds.). ''Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa''. Routledge, 1995.
* "This Strange Feeling." In Krouse, Matthew; Berman, Kim (eds.). ''The Invisible Ghetto: Lesbian and Gay Writing from South Africa.'' London: Gay Men's Press, 1995.
* "August 1987 A Letter from South Africa". ''Speaking for Our Lives''. Routledge, 2005.
* ''Till the Time of Trial: The Prison Letters of Simon Nkoli'', GALA – Queer Archive, 2007.

See also

* Internal resistance to apartheid
* HIV/AIDS in South Africa
* LGBT rights in South Africa

Notes

: Some sources say 1959.

External links

Recording of Nkoli entitled "being gay in South Africa" (1989)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkoli, Simon
1998 deaths
1957 births
20th-century South African LGBTQ people
South African HIV/AIDS activists
South African Sotho people
People from Soweto
South African gay men
South African LGBTQ rights activists
Youth activists
AIDS-related deaths in South Africa
People acquitted of treason
South African anti-apartheid activists
20th-century South African people