{{Short description|South African anti-apartheid and LGBTQ+ activist (born 1944)}} {{Use South African English|date = March 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox person | birth_name = Sheila Barsel | birth_date = 1 January 1944 | birth_place = Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa | education = Parktown Girls' High | alma_mater = University of the Witwatersrand | organization = National Union of South African Students<br>Gay Association of South Africa<br>Lesbians and Gays Against Oppression<br>Rape Crisis<br>End Conscription Campaign<br>National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality<br>Jews for Justice | political_party = African National Congress | partner = Julia Nicol (d. 2019) }}
'''Sheila Lapinsky''' ({{Nee|Barsel}}, born 1 January 1944) is a South African student, anti-apartheid and LGBTQ+ activist.
== Biography == Lapinsky was born on 1 January 1944 in Johannesburg, Transvaal Province (now Gauteng), South Africa. She was born into a middle-class Orthodox Jewish family. Her aunt and uncle were involved with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and she was not allowed by her parents to become close to them.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=23 April 2021 |orig-date=26 March 2012 |title=Sheila Lapinsky (nee Barsel) |url=https://sahistory.org.za/people/sheila-lapinsky-nee-barsel |access-date=2026-03-02 |website=South African History Online |language=en}}</ref>
Lapinsky matriculated from Parktown Girls' High in 1961.<ref name=":0" /> She then studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, graduating with a degree in sociology in 1966.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Fear_Or_Freedom/XX5DAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=Fear Or Freedom |date=1974 |publisher=Spro-Cas 2 |pages=7 |language=en}}</ref> As a student she became an activist for the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) and was news editor of the student newspaper ''Wits Student''.<ref name=":0" />
While serving as general secretary of NUSAS, Lapinsky accused Steve Biko of sexism, as he and his friends competed to see who could have sex with the most female delegates and he never addressed questions of gender or sexism in his politics. He responded by saying "Don't worry about my sexism. What about your white racist friends in NUSAS?"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mangcu |first=Xolela |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oeP4AAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&hl=en&source=newbks_fb&redir_esc=y |title=Biko: A Life |date=2013-10-30 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-78076-785-7 |pages=133–134 |language=en}}</ref>
As a result of the Schlebusch Commission, Lapinsky was served with a five-year banning order on 27 February 1973.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Hoad |first=Neville Wallace |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Sex_and_Politics_in_South_Africa/yAI8FLi9aAAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&pg=PA121&printsec=frontcover |title=Sex and Politics in South Africa |last2=Martin |first2=Karen |last3=Reid |first3=Graeme |date=2005 |publisher=Juta and Company Ltd |isbn=978-1-77013-015-9 |pages=36, 121, 241 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Trust |first=South African Democracy Education |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Road_to_Democracy_in_South_Africa/JGE-XB5QlD8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&pg=PA864&printsec=frontcover |title=The Road to Democracy in South Africa |date=2004 |publisher=Unisa Press |isbn=978-1-86888-406-3 |pages=864 |language=en}}</ref> Her banning order barred her from activism with any student organisations and from entering any education institutions to further her own education,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vuuren |first=Nancy Van |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Women_Against_Apartheid/shcqAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=Women Against Apartheid: The Fight for Freedom in South Africa, 1920-1975 |date=1979 |publisher=R & E Research Associates |isbn=978-0-88247-575-2 |pages=89 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Marsh |first=Pearl Alice |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Failures_of_Apartheid_Industrial_Dec/yR1PAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=The Failures of Apartheid Industrial Decentralization Policies and the Rise of the Independent (African) Trade Union Movement in South Africa, 1968-1982 |date=1984 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |pages=228 |language=en}}</ref> so she was forced to leave the NUSAS. Her ban expired in 1978.<ref name=":0" />
During the ban, Lapinsky began working with women's organisations, including Rape Crisis,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bullington |first=Sam N. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/From_the_Rainbow_Nation_to_the_new_Apart/wFmLb2EaA20C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=From the "Rainbow Nation" to the "new Apartheid": Sexual Orientation and HIV/AIDS in Contemporary South African Nation Building |date=2005 |publisher=University of Minnesota |pages=107, 200 |language=en}}</ref> and claimed in 1995 that "feminism was imported into South Africa from the United States in the 1970s" by local Rape Crisis activists.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Stanford_Berkeley_Joint_Center_for_Afric/51lEAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=Stanford-Berkeley Joint Center for African Studies Annual Conference: Papers |date=1995 |publisher=Joint Center for African Studies. |volume=2 |language=en}}</ref> In this period, she came out as a lesbian.<ref name=":2" /> She had previously been married to a man.<ref name=":0" />
In 1984 and 1984, Lapinsky was a member of the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA, also known as the 6010 group), but found the organisation "exhausting and isolating" due to a predominantly male membership.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Gevisser |first=Mark |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Defiant_Desire/DF8-ccVltDMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&pg=PR9&printsec=frontcover |title=Defiant Desire |last2=Cameron |first2=Edwin |date=1995 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-91061-3 |pages=75, 298 |language=en}}</ref> Lapinsky has been described as a "headstrong personality"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dullemen |first=Caroline van |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/De_klank_van_Malibongwe/yjoWAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=De klank van Malibongwe: vrouwen in een nieuw Zuid-Afrika |date=1991 |publisher=J. Mets |isbn=978-90-5330-027-5 |pages=153 |language=nl}}</ref> and ''Zuidelijk Afrika'' reported that if gay was used in a speech without also mentioning lesbians, she would interrupt the speaker.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Zuidelijk_Afrika/FyUxAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Sheila%20Lapinsky |title=Zuidelijk Afrika |date=2003 |publisher=Nederlands Instituut voor Zuidelijk Afrika |volume=7-8 |pages=31 |language=nl}}</ref> She planned a gay and lesbian community festival called Towards the People, but this was banned by the government and was not allowed to take place.<ref name=":0" />
When a delegate from GASA was being sent to The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), Lapinsky argued that they should be black, as homosexuality was "frequently assumed to be un-African."<ref name=":2" /> She also corresponded with international LGBTQ+ activists, such as Jon Voss, a Swedish writer for the gay and lesbian monthly journal ''Reporter,''<ref name=":1" /> and helped the international LGBTQ+ community become aware of the overlaps of racial and sexual justice in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Batra |first=Kanika |date=2016-01-02 |title=Worlding Sexualities under Apartheid: From Gay Liberation to a Queer Afropolitanism |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13688790.2016.1222857 |journal=Postcolonial Studies |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=37–52 |doi=10.1080/13688790.2016.1222857 |issn=1368-8790 |access-date=2026-03-02}}</ref>
In 1986, Lapinsky was a co-founding member of the Lesbians and Gays Against Oppression (LAGO) in Cape Town, alongside. Derrick Fine, Ivan Toms and Julia Nicol.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chernis |first=Linda |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003367062/beyond-mountain-camminga-zethu-matebeni?refId=94e36fa1-7eb8-4134-9deb-20ded14c0de4&context=ubx |title=Beyond the Mountain, Queer Life in "Africa's Gay Capital" |date=2023-02-10 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781003367062 |editor-last=Camminga |editor-first=B. |chapter=The Gala Archives: Preserving The “Queerer” Side of Queer Cape Town |access-date=2026-03-02 |editor-last2=Matebeni |editor-first2=Z. |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003367062-11/gala-archives-preserving-queerer-side-queer-cape-town-linda-chernis |url-access=subscription}}</ref> LAGO took a definite anti-apartheid stance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Christiansen |first=Eric C. |date=2000 |title=Ending the Apartheid of the Closet: Sexual Orientation in the South African Constitutional Process |url=https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1130&context=pubs |access-date=2026-03-02 |website=International Law and Politics}}</ref> The later iteration of LAGO, the Organisation for Lesbian and Gay Activists (OLGA), applied to be affiliated with the United Democratic Front (UDF),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Louw |first=Ronald |url=http://archive.org/details/isbn_9781560235552 |title=Sexuality and human rights : a global overview |date=22 May 2014 |publisher=Harrington Park Press |isbn=978-1-56023-554-5 |editor-last=Helmut |editor-first=Graupner |location=Binghamton, New York |pages=148 |chapter=Advancing Human Rights Through Constitutional Protection for Gays and Lesbians in South Africa |access-date=2026-03-02 |editor-last2=Tahmindjis |editor-first2=Phillip}}</ref> with Lapinsky delivering the application to a UDF meeting.<ref name=":3" /> Lapinsky and Nicol became partners<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Camminga |first=B. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Beyond_the_Mountain/-imgEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&pg=PA1992&printsec=frontcover |title=Beyond the Mountain: Queer Life in "Africa's Gay Capital" |last2=Matebeni |first2=zethu |date=2023-02-10 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-83819-0 |pages=1992 |language=en}}</ref> and were the only lesbian members of the OLGA group executive.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chesnut |first=Mark |date=24 September 1989 |title=Out of South Africa |url=http://outweek.net/pdfs/ow_14.pdf |access-date=2026-03-02 |work=Out Week |pages=35}}</ref>
From 1987 to 1988, Lapinsky was active in the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). She also served on the executive of the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE) until 1997<ref name=":0" /> and became a member of the African National Congress (ANC).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tin |first=Louis-Georges |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aK02DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1957&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&ots=h5eznOlqiL&sig=rbgh7-w2sT75IRyzKs_Sfn2aS0g |title=The Dictionary of Homophobia: A Global History of Gay & Lesbian Experience |date=2008-11-01 |publisher=Arsenal Pulp Press |isbn=978-1-55152-314-9 |pages=1957 |language=en}}</ref> Lapinsky was an executive member of Jews for Justice and was detained in 1989 during a protest in Cape Town.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/I_P/h88vAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Sheila%20Lapinsky |title=I & P: Israel & Palestine Political Report |date=1989 |publisher=Magelan |pages=11 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1990, Lapinsky was a keynote speaker at the ILGA annual conference and went on a speaking tour in The Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Shelley |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Out_in_the_World/w0YEAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Sheila+Lapinsky&dq=Sheila+Lapinsky&printsec=frontcover |title=Out in the World: International Lesbian Organizing |date=1991 |publisher=Firebrand Books |isbn=978-1-56341-005-5 |pages=15 |language=en}}</ref>
Lapinsky's partner Nicol died on 3 April 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Julia Nicol |url=https://sahistory.org.za/people/julia-nicol |access-date=2026-03-02 |website=South African History Online |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapinsky, Sheila}} Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Activists from Johannesburg Category:University of the Witwatersrand alumni Category:South African Jews Category:South African anti-apartheid activists Category:White South African anti-apartheid activists Category:South African LGBTQ rights activists Category:South African civil rights activists Category:South African women civil rights activists Category:20th-century South African LGBTQ people Category:21st-century South African LGBTQ people