Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a (passive) homosexual male.

1931		G. Milburn ‘Convicts’ Jargon’ in AS VI:6 440: nola, n. A homosexual.
1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants.
1951		D.W. Cory Homosexual in America 112: Most of the words [in Amer. Dict. of Slang] were of infrequent usage: agfay, lavender boy, mason, nola, queervert.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1987		R. Campbell Alice in La-La Land (1999) 3: A couple of curly-headed nolas swapping tongues, or a pair of Sapphites doing the same.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 59: Girl A feminine, passive homosexual. (Archaic: nola, ring tail).

2. (S.Afr. gay) see cit. 2003.

2003

K. Cage Gayle 84/2: Nola n. nobody; someone not worthy of consideration (Who was in that movie we saw last night? Oh, that was Nola nobody).