Rubin van Niekerk founded Africa's first gay business association in 1992, which was named
The Family Business. Soon, it required a newsletter. This consisted of a few Olivetti hand-typed pages handed to members.
The organisation’s members demanded something 'prettier,' which led to the newsletter then became a magazine with the title
The Family Business Directory. It was delivered to a repro house as a shopping bag filled with floppy discs. After publishing under the name once, the magazine changed its name to the shorter name of
Gay Pages.
Over the years, the magazine says that it has witnessed many landmarks, such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality (the
Gay Pages was founded when homosexuality was still illegal) and the institution of same-sex marriage.
"We have had tremendous support from the LGBT community since inception," says deputy editor, Alan Samons. "Very few corporates were interested in the gay community back then. Now we have multinationals like Mercedes-Benz leading this year's Pride. Porsche, Lexus and Toyota have been staunch supporters, while
KLM and Bidvest Car Rental have been advertisers for years."
"Our corporate support has grown — especially from the motoring industry — but there's still room for more growth. Watch brands, fragrances and clothing brands are conspicuously absent, which is ironic when you consider that gay men are incredibly image-conscious and have high disposable income — due to the fact that very few have children," adds Samons.
The
Gay Pages is available in both printed and digital formats and the
Gay Pages website has recently started accepting advertising. The upcoming large-format special collectors' edition, which will be going to print in December, is celebrating the past 25 years with a nostalgia theme. Advertising bookings close on Tuesday, 26 November.
For more information, visit
www.gaypagessa.com. You can also follow the
Gay Pages magazine on
Facebook,
Twitter or on
Instagram.