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This is a timeline of notable events in the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in South Africa.
January – The Forest Town raid: police raid a gay party attended by about 300 people in Forest Town, a suburb of Johannesburg. This attracts much public and political attention, leading in 1969 to an extension of the criminalisation of male homosexuality.
1969
21 May – The Immorality Amendment Act, 1969 introduces Section 20A, the infamous "men at a party" clause, which criminalised all sexual acts committed between men "at a party", where "party" is defined as any occasion where more than two people are present. The amendment also raised the age of consent for male homosexual activity from 16 to 19, although "sodomy" and "unnatural acts" were already criminal. Openly gay nationalist composer Hubert du Plessis appears before Parliament to protest the tightening of anti-homosexuality laws.
In the country's 1987 general election, GASA and the gay magazine Exit endorsed the National Party candidate for Hillbrow, Leon de Beer. De Beer was the National Party's first candidate to address gay rights, and advertised for his campaign in Exit. It was the general opinion of the gay community of Hillbrow that their vote was the deciding factor in de Beer's ultimate victory.
1988
4 March – The Immorality Amendment Act, 1988 imposes an age of consent of 19 for lesbian sex, which had previously been unregulated by the law. This was higher than the age of 16 applying to heterosexual sex.
27 April – The Interim Constitution comes into force. It includes a clause explicitly prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, giving LGBT South Africans legal protection for the first time. A subsequent court decision in 1998 will establish that the crime of sodomy was legally invalid from this date.
1997
4 February – The final Constitution comes into force, including the same anti-discrimination protections as the Interim Constitution.
9 October – The Constitutional Court unanimously confirms the judgment of the High Court in the National Coalition case.
30 November – Gay rights and anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli dies of an AIDS-related secondary infection.
1999
12 February – In the case of National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Home Affairs, three judges of the Cape Provincial Division of the High Court rule that it is unconstitutional for the government to provide immigration benefits to the foreign spouses of South Africans but not to the foreign same-sex partners of South Africans. The declaration of invalidity is suspended for one year to allow Parliament to correct the law.
2 December – The Constitutional Court unanimously confirms the judgment of the High Court in the second National Coalition case, but removes the suspension of the order and instead "reads in" words to the law to immediately extend immigration benefits to same-sex partners.
28 September – In the case of Du Toit v Minister of Welfare and Population Development, a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division rules that same-sex partners must be allowed to jointly adopt children and to adopt each other's children, a right which was previously limited to married spouses.
2002
25 July – The Constitutional Court unanimously confirms the judgment of the High Court in the Satchwell case, but modifies the order to limit the benefits to same-sex life partners who have undertaken "reciprocal duties of support".
10 September – The Constitutional Court unanimously confirms the judgment and order of the High Court in the Du Toit case.
18 October – In the case of Fourie v Minister of Home Affairs, a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division dismisses the application of a lesbian couple to have their union recognised as a marriage on the grounds that they failed to attack the constitutionality of the Marriage Act.
28 March – The Constitutional Court unanimously confirms the judgment and order of the High Court in the J and B case.
31 July – The Constitutional Court refuses leave for a direct appeal in the Fourie case, directing that the appeal should instead be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
July – The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project launches a case in the Witwatersrand Local Division challenging the constitutionality of the provisions of the Marriage Act that limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.
30 November – A five-judge panel of the Supreme Court of Appeal hands down a judgment in the Fourie case. The majority of four rules that the common-law definition of marriage must be extended to include same-sex marriages but that such marriages cannot be solemnised in South Africa until the Marriage Act is amended, either by Parliament or by the Equality Project's application. The judgment is appealed to the Constitutional Court by both parties.
2005
11 March – The Chief Justice instructs that the Equality Project case will be heard by the Constitutional Court simultaneously with the Fourie case.
1 December – The Constitutional Court delivers its judgment in the Fourie and Equality Project cases (now known as Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie). The court rules that the common-law definition of marriage and the Marriage Act are unconstitutional because they do not allow same-sex couples to marry. The court suspends its order for one year to allow Parliament to rectify the discrimination.
2006
4 February – 19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana was stabbed and stoned to death in Khayelitsha for living openly as a lesbian.
31 March – In the case of Gory v Kolver NO, a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division rules that a same-sex life partner is entitled to inherit from the intestate estate of the other partner as if they were married.
August – The government rejects a call by the African Christian Democratic Party for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Constitutional Court's decision on same-sex marriage. Cabinet approves the introduction of the Civil Union Bill in Parliament.
13 September – The Civil Union Bill is introduced in the National Assembly. As originally drafted, the bill would provide for "civil partnerships", for same-sex couples only, which would have the same legal consequences as marriage but would not be called marriage.
14 November – The National Assembly passes the Civil Union Bill, with amendments to allow marriages or civil partnerships available to same-sex and opposite-sex couples, by 230 votes to 41.
23 November – The Constitutional Court confirms the judgment and order of the High Court in the Gory case.
31 March – In the case of Geldenhuys v National Director of Public Prosecutions, the Supreme Court of Appeal rules that the erstwhile difference in the age of consent was unconstitutional, notwithstanding that it has already been rectified by Parliament.
26 November – The Constitutional Court confirms the order of the Supreme Court of Appeal in the Geldenhuys case.
Mid-March – The establishment of a National Task Team (NTT) to address the issue of hate crimes against LGBT people such as corrective rape is mandated by then Minister of JusticeJeff Radebe.
25 May – Lynne Brown becomes the first openly gay person to be appointed to a cabinet post in any African government.
2015
Phuti Lekoloane came out and thus became South Africa's first openly gay male footballer.
2018
Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of any Cosmopolitan magazine (specifically, Cosmopolitan South Africa's February 2018 issue).
Notes
Gevisser, pp. 30–36
West, pp. 23–26
West, p. 25
James May (2011) Obituary – Hubert du Plessis, Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa, 8:1, 115-116, DOI: 10.2989/18121004.2011.652401
Conway, Daniel (December 2009). "Queering Apartheid: The National Party's 1987 'Gay Rights' Campaign in Hillbrow". Journal of Southern African Studies. 35 (4): 849–863. doi:10.1080/03057070903313210. S2CID144525158.
Tolsi, Niren (11 January 2008). "Is it the kiss of death?". Mail & Guardian. South Africa. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
Gevisser, Mark and Edwin Cameron (1995) Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa. New York, Routledge. ISBN0-415-91061-7.
West, Donald J. and Richard Green (eds.) (1997). Sociolegal Control of Homosexuality: A Multi-Nation Comparison. New York, Plenum Press. ISBN0-306-45532-3.
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Years in South Africa (1901–present)