Phuti Lekoloane

Phuti Lekoloane also known as Phuti Minaj, is a South African footballer and LGBTQ activist, He played for JDR Stars, a Pretoria-based organization, on their second division team as goalkeeper,

Early life Phuti Lekoloane was born in Moletjie,

Lekoloane says he has always known he was gay, being born as such, and that his family was accepting and supportive. He has been playing football since he was fifteen. He also played for Platinum Stars F.C.’s development team before they were moved to Royal Bafokeng Stadium. "[Moshoeu] is fondly remembered for wearing the number 10 jersey", Phuti says, "9 plus 1 equals 10;" he sought permission from Moshoeu's family, and they gave their blessing. Lekoloane has learned to channel that hatred into motivation to make things better for other gay footballers. He left because of homophobia, including a teammate who believed being gay was on par with being a murderer. he has met many closeted gay soccer players.

Dealing with homophobia Lekoloane has dealt with homophobia in the sport; at a team’s trial in the mid-2010s, the organization’s representatives said they did not know how to accommodate him, and thought he would be bad for their image. to raise awareness about homophobia in sport with Pride in Diversity, —South Africa has not; while they have worked on issues of racism in association football. He left JDR Stars because of the homophobia, but was later recruited by Tornado F.C., another SAFA Second Division team.

In October 2018 he was nominated for the Feather Awards’ Sports Personality of the Year award for “iconic personalities and achievers who inspire” the LGBTQI communities.

2019,Phuti Minaj founded, a Phuti Lekoloane foundation, a not profit organisation which aims to provide development and training about the LGBTIQ community in sports, Phuti Lekoloane is also the founder of LGBTI Legacy Games, a football tournament that focuses on tackling homophobia out of sports.

In 2021, Phuti Minaj as Lekoloane is famously known in the football circles was nominated for both Role Model of the year and Sports personality of the year for the feather awards 2021, Phuti Lekoloane walked away with the feather awards sports personality of the year.