Simon Nkoli
Simon Tseko Nkoli | |
---|---|
Born | Soweto, Union of South Africa | 26 November 1957
Died | 30 November 1998 Johannesburg, South Africa | (aged 41)
Partner | Roy Shepherd |
Simon Tseko Nkoli (26 November 1957 – 30 November 1998) was an
Nkoli was born in
Nkoli's surname is pronounced "Nkodi" and was often spelled this way, including by Nkoli himself.[1]
Activism
After joining COSAS in 1980, Nkoli became secretary for the Transvaal division of the group. Despite some resistance from within COSAS, he was allowed keep this position after his sexuality was revealed to the group.[2]
In 1983, he joined the mainly white Gay Association of South Africa (GASA). GASA maintained that it was "apolitical", and refused to support Nkoli's activism on race-related issues. In a 1985 letter sent from prison after his arrest Nkoli told his partner, Roy Shepherd, that "GASA has done nothing for me since I was arrested", though he wrote in the same letter that "some individual members of GASA are seeing me", and that "I will remain a member of Gasa always". The following year, he wrote that he was "absolutely mad to read about me being arrested on 'irrelevant' issues to gay related matters", and increasingly frustrated at a lack of support from GASA. In April 1987, he wrote: "I am not interested in Gasa at all. In fact I am no longer a member of Gasa – or I shall not be a member of Gasa again."[1] Although some sources claim that Nkoli was ejected from GASA after his arrest and trial.[2] He later formed the Saturday Group, the first black gay group in Africa.[citation needed]
Nkoli spoke at rallies in support of rent-boycotts in the
He founded the
Nkoli was one of the first gay activists to meet with President Nelson Mandela in 1994. He helped in the campaign for the inclusion of protection from discrimination in the Bill of Rights in the 1994 South African constitution and for the repeal of the sodomy law, which happened in May 1998 in his last months.
After becoming one of the first publicly
Personal life
Nkoli was one of four children. Although he was born in Soweto, his parents separated early in his life, and Nkoli was sent to live with his grandparents on a farm in the Orange Free State. He lived there for several years before returning to live with his mother in Sebokeng.[2][5]
Nkoli met his partner, Roy Shepherd, at the age of 19. He later recalled meeting him at the GCC, or Gay Christian Community.[1] A collection of their letters, written during Nkoli's trial and imprisonment, was published as part of the GALA Queer Archive under the title Till the Time of Trial: The Prison Letters of Simon Nkoli.[1][6] Excerpts from these letters were also published in the book Yes, I Am!: Writing by South African Gay Men. [7]
Honours
There is a Simon Nkoli Day in
In November 2023, a stage production honouring Nkoli's life and activism called Nkoli: The Vogue Opera premiered at Johannesburg's
References
- ^ a b c d De Waal, Shaun; Martin, Karen (eds.), Till the Time of Trial: The Prison Letters of Simon Nkoli (PDF)
- ^ a b c "Simon Nkoli". South African History Online. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ISBN 9781770130159.
- ISBN 978-1-77009-261-7.
- ^ Mlambo, Dumile; Landman, JC (22 November 2017). "SU to honour equal rights activist, Simon Nkoli". Stellenbosch University. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ Batra, Kanika (7 June 2021). "Love Letters and Legacies of Black Queer Self-Fashioning in South Africa | Kanika Batra | Essay". Brittle Paper. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- )
- ^ Botha, Martin (2002), "Homosexuality and South African Cinema", Kinema (Spring 2002), archived from the original on 29 August 2006
- ^ "Bev and Simon: a South African 'love story'", Radio Netherlands Archives, January 23, 2004
- ^ "Canadian filmmaker John Greyson Turns Down Offer to Appear at Israeli Film Festival", Imoovizine, 11 April 2009, archived from the original on 12 July 2009
- ^ Lishivha, Welcome. "Nkoli: The Vogue-Opera - Market Theatre". Market Theatre. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Nene, S'Bonakaliso (23 October 2022). "New show 'Glow' celebrates SA's queer freedom fighter, Simon Nkoli". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Ansell, Gwen (16 November 2023). "Nkoli: The Vogue Opera – the making of a musical about a queer liberation activist in South Africa". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- Sunday Times, South Africa - Sunday, 6 December 1998
- Excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History, from WWII to Present Day, Routledge, London, 2001
External links
- Biography
- Obituary
- Simon and I - Film by Beverley Palesa Ditsie at the IMDb
- Article about play "Your Loving Simon"
- groups.msn.com
See also
- HIV/AIDS in South Africa
- Joel Gustave Nana Ngongang