Radical Objects: Mathoko’s Post Box & the Birth of the Black LGBT Movement in South Africa

MaThoko’s house was the centre of a vibrant LGBT community in KwaThema (photo by David Penney). [...] Photo courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA). [...] MaThoko’s house was for a time the centre of a vibrant community, and her post box served as a key communication node for the nascent LGBT movement. [...] Photo courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA). [...] MaThoko’s address, 33 Legodi Street, became synonymous with the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand, the first mass black LGBT movement in South Africa. [...] Photo courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA). [...] Photo courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA). [...] After his release from prison in 1988, Nkoli founded a new organisation, the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW). [...] The 1980s and 1990s saw a rise in LGBT organising and visibility in the townships. Photo courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA). [...] A flyer advertising the 1990 pride march and its theme of ‘Unity in the Community!’ Photo courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA).