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s i. ch in Mzan r a m e id r er P ry. the first-ev e c n i at its histo s k s c r a a b e y k o 0 3 lo ke a marks ars, let’s ta e y THIS year e h t r e v no nt has grow e v e e h t le i Wh LIAM KARABO JOYCE
ON October 13, 1990, South Africa’s first Lesbian and Gay Pride march was held in Joburg. It was the first Pride March on the continent and acted as both a gay pride event and an anti-apartheid march. To be clear, the march was both a political statement and a celebration. The march was organised by the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (Glow) and attracted a crowd of about 800 people. Speakers at the event included Dr Beverly Palesa Ditsie, Simon Nkoli and Justice Edwin Cameron, who also organised the event with other queer activists. The purpose of the event was not only to demonstrate pride in gay or lesbian identity but also to provide a wider platform for voicing political concerns. The march was part of a broader struggle to decriminalise homosexuality in South African law and to end apartheid. Addressing the crowd, Nkoli said: “I am black and I am gay. I cannot separate the two parts of me into primary or secondary struggles. They will be all one struggle.” Marchers feared for their safety, with many wearing masks during the event. There was a strong presence of religious groups with many onlookers describing the march as “disgusting”. Despite this, there was a generally celebratory atmosphere to the parade signified by the chant “out of the closet and into the streets”.
