LGBTQIA community finds economic solution in GALZWhat are the best options for the LGBTQIA community when tackling the economical unstable decades we live in?
by Mambaonline.com
30-11-2022 16:57
in LGBTQIA
GALZ, said to be Africa's oldest LGBTQIA organisation, was founded in 1990, with the mandate to promote, advocate and protect the livelihoods and interests of LGBTQIA people in Zimbabwe. Photo: PEXELS
Zimbabwe has been wracked by economic instability for decades. What then are the options for LGBTQIA people who are often marginalised and excluded from the already limited employment and economic opportunities that do exist?
--
GALZ, said to be Africa's oldest LGBTQIA organisation, was founded in 1990, with the mandate to promote, advocate and protect the livelihoods and interests of LGBTQIA people in Zimbabwe. In addition, the group provides HIV and health services to this community.
It does this despite historical incidents of harassment and abuse by the state, the continued criminalisation of homosexuality and political populism that has often painted a false picture of the LGBTQIA community.
In discussion with Samuel Matsikure, GALZ's Program Manager, we learned that GALZ is now also set on addressing the exclusion of LGBTQIA Zimbabweans from the mainstream economy. But this is no easy task; not only because of decades of social stigmatisation but also the harsh economic realities facing the country.
--
According to the 2017 Situation Analysis Report of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the country has had a very fragile economy characterised by instability, which often led to shortages of the country's currency and commodities.
ALSO READ: Survey shows the majority of the LGBTQIA community is single
In addition, the labour market had a record-high unemployment rate of 90.1%, causing many people to leave Zimbabwe to find better economic opportunities and asylum elsewhere.
--
Many LGBTQIA children drop out of school due to bullying and stigmatisation
The era of Robert Mugabe led to homophobia, and through his campaigns, he ensured that the LGBTQIA community was discriminated against at every opportunity, especially in rural communities, says Matsikure. Thus, it became entrenched in all economic and political structures in Zimbabwe.
Matsikure points out that the roots of economic LGBTQIA exclusion in Zimbabwe start at an early age, with many LGBTQIA children dropping out of school due to bullying and stigmatisation.
When it comes to education, it becomes difficult because of the harassment and isolation by other children, he says, adding that this continues into institutions of higher education. Just two years ago, we did a campus climate survey that showed us that college and college students experience homophobia, discrimination, and stigmatisation from other students.
Matsikure notes that the path to sex work is also a reality for many students as marginalisation forces so many of them to drop out of school. He also points to the many intersections of stigma.
Women in Zimbabwe over the years have not received the same privileges as a boy, especially when it comes to access to education. And if they do not get access to education, that means they are already at a disadvantage in an environment that needs a highly skilled, experienced and educated workforce,
says Matsikure. And if you look at the current economic programmes that are offered either by the state or by institutions, they still think too much in [binary] gender categories. So, it affects different types of women or different types of people depending on their gender. So, you also find that LGBTQIA women experience double stigma and discrimination,
he explains. Many economic opportunities in Zimbabwe are furthermore linked to party politics, says Matsikure. When they are made available, the LGBTQIA community is likely to be excluded. He also points out that LGBTQIA people are at risk of losing their jobs if they are open about who they are, a devastating scenario in a country that has limited employment opportunities.
A path to economic empowerment According to Matsikure, the organisation's focus over the next five years will be on economic development.
As part of its ongoing strategies to address economic inclusion and structural inequities, GALZ recently hosted its first Business Network Summit in partnership with the Bayethe Development Institute and The Other Foundation.
Although GALZ has been a key player in the fight against HIV/AIDS, frustration at the community being viewed only from a sexualised and medicalised perspective was evident through various statements made during the summit.
We have a life to live, money to make, so give us empowerment programs, GALZ counselling psychologist Badza told Pink Advocate.
The ground-breaking summit saw 35 people attending at the GALZ centre in Harare and 113 participating online in other provinces. Many members took to heart the urgent need for economic empowerment programmes.
The summit looked at issues such as the benefits of networking, and entrepreneurship, the importance of funding for LGBTIQA businesses, and access to skills in the pursuit of economic freedom.
While there are some who have managed to start their own businesses, in an economy where everyone is a salesperson, it becomes difficult if they do not have the necessary training and skills or are not taught how to run a business,
says Matsikure. GALZ is working on strategies that focus on building pillars to support and facilitate the inclusion of the LGBTQIA community in mainstream economic activities and employment opportunities, which includes empowering LGBTQIA individuals through training and business networks.
The organisation's Pink Economy initiative, for example, equips LGBTQIA youth with skills suc
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
07/05/2026
At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...
07/05/2026
January 8, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...
07/05/2026
February 9, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning pioneer i...
07/05/2026
March 20, 2024
NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...
07/05/2026
April 1, 2025
CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...
07/05/2026
July 3, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
September 1, 2025
IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...
07/05/2026
April 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...
07/05/2026
April 23, 2026
NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects
Graham Quince May 6, 2026
0 Comments
The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...
07/05/2026
Back to All News
Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix Present the Trailer of ...
07/05/2026
Production sound mixer Dirk Sciarrotta has mixed Family Feud for 28 seasons. Thats up to 200 syndicated episodes per year, plus primetime celebrity specials - a...
07/05/2026
As audience expectations have evolved, Owen has stopped trying to hide microphones or excuse amplification. Instead, he treats sound as a fully immersive part o...
07/05/2026
Well known Irish faces pushed to the edge in new series of
Uncharted with Ray G...
07/05/2026
RT will premiere A Traveller Family, a compelling new documentary exploring the...
07/05/2026
Less typing, more tanking.
Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
06/05/2026
Peacock is going all-in on the beautiful game - streaming all 104 FIFA World Cup...
LGBTQIA community finds economic solution in GALZWhat are the best options for the LGBTQIA community when tackling the economical unstable decades we live in?
