Simon Nkoli

Simon Tseko Nkoli (26 November 1957 – 30 November 1998) was a South African anti-apartheid, gay rights, and AIDS activist. His anti-apartheid activism as an openly gay man influenced the African National Congress (ANC) to publicly support gay rights and to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the South African constitution. He organised South Africa's first pride march and was one of the first Black South Africans to disclose that he was living with HIV/AIDS. In his activism, he utilised visibility as a tactic and spoke about the relationship between multiple forms of discrimination. His death from AIDS-related illness influenced fellow activists to establish the Treatment Action Campaign which successfully lobbied the government to expand access to HIV treatment. Born in Soweto, Nkoli lived with his grandparents in Orange Free State for several years and later moved in with his mother in Sebokeng. Nkoli first became involved in anti-apartheid activism as a high school student during the 1976 Soweto uprising, later becoming active in the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), the United Democratic Front (UDF), and the Vaal Civic Association. Because of his activism, he was repeatedly detained by the police, sometimes for extended periods of time. During the Vaal uprising, he was arrested and imprisoned with 21 other anti-apartheid leaders in 1984. Their charges, which included treason, terrorism, and murder, carried a potential death sentence. During their years-long Delmas Treason Trial, Nkoli was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and came out as gay to his co-defendants. His case gained international attention and a support campaign, especially among the LGBTQ community. The Gay Association of South Africa (GASA), the predominantly white organisation Nkoli had joined before his arrest, did not offer any support to Nkoli during the trial, provoking criticism from foreign LGBTQ organisations. After his acquittal in 1988, he co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW), a multi-racial organisation that hosted political rallies and social events. At South Africa's first pride march, he made a speech stating that he was fighting against both racism and homophobia and could not fight one without also fighting the other. With the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE), he lobbied successfully for anti-sodomy laws to be overturned and for anti-gay discrimination to be prohibited in the South African constitution. Nkoli co-founded the Township AIDS Project to provide education about HIV prevention to Black people, especially gay men in the townships. As a health educator, he took a sex positive, harm reduction approach. Like many South Africans, Nkoli struggled to consistently access effective HIV/AIDS treatment, and he vocally criticised the government's response to the epidemic.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0