Pride parades in South Africa

speaking at the first pride parade in 1990 The Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) was founded by gay anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli in 1988. The first South African pride parade was held towards the end of the apartheid era in Johannesburg on 13 October 1990, the first such event on the African continent. In his speech, Nkoli said: and the organising body disbanded in April 2013 due to internal conflict about whether the event should continue to be used for political advocacy. Two new committees were formed around May 2013. One of them was called "Johannesburg Pride" and would carry on the history of the oldest and largest LGBTQIA Pride in South Africa & (Africa), The other committee would organise a "Johannesburg People's Pride", which is "envisioned as an inclusive and explicitly political movement for social justice". As of June 2019, Johannesburg Pride is the largest Pride event in Africa. Johannesburg pride has recently faced controversy due to the commercialisation of Pride. After publicly stating that Amazon would be a sponsor of pride 2025, various queer communities decided to boycott JHB pride, as Amazon is currently funding genocide. This was met by a response from Kaye Ally (the self-claimed “founder” of JHB pride) where she denied being sponsored by Amazon. As part of her official response Mrs. Ally included videos of hate speech and insinuated that the groups choosing to boycott JHB pride was the source of the video. This was false information spread with the intent of causing division among the queer community. In response to the way this backlash was addressed, a group of queer protesters holding “no pride in genocide” and “free Palestine” posters lead the 2025 JHB pride march. The protestors held a moment of silence for all those who are currently oppressed, specifically focusing on the genocides that are occurring globally as well as for LGBTQ+ members who have been lost due to hatred. The group voiced their concerns regarding rainbow- and pink-washing of genocide and proclaimed that this should not be done in the name of all queer people. After the moment of silence the group decided not to continue the march, instead holding their posters and chanting as the march continued. Chants included: “free Palestine”, “free Sudan” , “free Uganda” and “free Congo”. ==Cape Town==

2014 Annual pride parades have been held in Cape Town subject to interruptions since 1993, and as part of the Cape Town Pride event since 2001. ==Other areas==

• Eastern Cape: Nelson Mandela Bay Pride has taken place annually in Port Elizabeth since 2011. • Free State: Free State Pride has been held in Bloemfontein, one of South Africa's three national capitals, since 2012. • Gauteng: Other pride parades held in the Johannesburg area include Soweto Pride which has taken place annually since 2005 in Meadowlands, Soweto, • KwaZulu-Natal: Durban Pride has been held every year in Durban, the largest city in the province, since 2011. The Pink Mynah Festival is held in Pietermaritzburg, the provincial capital, in October. The event includes a beauty pageant, a fashion show, a pride parade and a picnic. • Limpopo: Limpopo Pride has been held in Polokwane since 2012. In 2015, various government officials, including the mayors of Polokwane and the Capricorn District Municipality as well as councillors and members of the police service, marched in the parade. • Mpumalanga: On 9 August 2014, a pride parade took place in Nelspruit. This marked the first time a pride parade was held in the province of Mpumalanga. One month later, on 6 September 2014, the town of Ermelo organised its first pride parade. • North West: The first pride parade in the province was held in November 2007 in Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Pride parades have taken place annually in Klerksdorp since 2010. On 1 October 2016, a pride parade was held in the township of Kanana. • Western Cape: The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras has been held in Knysna since 2001. In 2014 and 2015, it took place in the townships of Samora Michel and Khayelitsha, respectively. In 2016, the event was held in the township of Langa. Since then, the event has been held in Strand and Delft. ==See also==