JOHANNESBURG Lesbian & GAY PRIDE MARCH 1990 UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY (front)
Lesbian & GAYS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (back)


This T-shirt was produced for Johannesburg’s first Pride in 1990, organised by the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersand (GLOW).

The first Johannesburg Lesbian and Gay Pride March was held on 13 October 1990, the first event of its kind on the African continent. The aims of the march were to advocate for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, as well as to call for the end of apartheid. 800 people were in attendance and gay and lesbian rights activists, including Beverley Ditsie, Justice Edwin Cameron, Donné Rundle, Hendrik Pretorius and Simon Nkoli, addressed the crowd.

Over three decades of annual Pride marches have been observed in South Africa. Since the initial event in 1990, Pride marches have continued to grow in South Africa, with each of the nine provinces now hosting a march.