Joyline Maenzanise

“We reject attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our norms, values, traditions and beliefs. We are not gay.” This is what Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert G. Mugabe, said at the 2015 UN General Assembly.
He’s the same leader who’s known for saying people like me are “worse than pigs and dogs.” And let’s be honest. For someone who’s known to be very educated, and he is, comparing us to animals wasn’t quite an intelligent remark. Check out this article published by Pink News ...

Trigger Warning: This article mentions periods of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.
The festive season has just ended, and much like last year, I have made sure to spend as little time as possible on social media. I don’t want to be reminded of my aloneness during this time.
Last year, I forced myself to deactivate my Facebook account and every now and then, I would check m...

When a deputy headmaster at one of Zimbabwe’s top schools recently came out as gay, he faced a backlash that revealed a deep-seated homophobia. One Zimbabwean decided to stand up – and out – in support of the LGBTQI+ community in general and GALZ in particular.
In case you missed the story that made international headlines in September 2018, Dr Neal Hovelmeier, a deputy headmaster at one of Zimbabwe’s private schools, came out as gay.
According to the Zimbabwe Constitution of 2013, same-gende...

THE OUSTING of Robert Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe in November 2017 was a cause for jubilation for many people, including members of the LGBT community. The hope and expectation was that the end of Mugabe’s thirty-year dictatorship would usher in a new era with brighter futures for ordinary citizens. Some LGBT folks shared in the euphoria, as their community has long borne the brunt of so much intolerance fueled by our leaders.
A few days into the post-Mugabe era, one of the nation’s leade...

Recently, a pregnant student at Zimbabwe’s National University of Science and Technology was run over by a moving train. In a suicide note left to her family, the 19-year-old wrote that she had decided to end her life after her boyfriend, who revealed that he was married, disowned her pregnancy. This unfortunate incident took place not long after another student from Midlands State University, also a Zimbabwean institution, hung himself. The phenomenon is common across the African continent, ...

Already busy with a novel? You are allowed to continue working on it throughout the month. However, you need to bear in mind that only the words written during November will count.
As you begin this interesting venture, it is inevitable that you will experience a slow-down in your ability to think and produce content for your novel. As much as you will be aware of and striving to meet your deadline (11:59pm on 30 November), your brain will not always allow you to move on to the next level. Th...

Last year was hell. Unemployed, struggling to secure funds for my studies, enduring endless, unsolicited sermons from family members who cared more about my sexuality than they did about my challenges, I found myself sinking deep into depression. My social anxiety and panic attacks peaked. I struggled to leave my room even if it was to step into the bathroom. I couldn’t leave the house without my earphones, even if they were not working. Having something plugged to my ears served as a shield ...

In a possible first for Zimbabwe, a top teacher has gone public regarding his sexual orientation in an attempt to foster a safe space for learners of all sexual orientations.
On 21 September 2018, Dr Neal Hovelmeier, the deputy headmaster at St John’s College, one of the affluent high schools in Zimbabwe, came out to staff and students. In a letter written to the school regarding his bold move, the deputy head says:
“…I have become increasingly aware that a number of former students who gain ...

The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe has partnered with Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, an LGBTQI+ advocacy rights group, in an anti-homophobia campaign in schools. The campaign aims to address issues of discrimination in learning institutions and educate teachers on LGBTQI+ issues.
Teachers and academic institutions play a vital role in supporting the holistic development of students and learners – and some of those students are members of the LGBTQI+ community.
Constitutionally speaki...

Some people still believe that motocross is a boy’s sport but 13-year-old Zimbabwean motocross sensation Tanya Muzinda proves otherwise. Her many awards and successes makes her a living example of the fact that girls can take up the sport and achieve greatness.
Tanya’s love for motorbikes developed from around the age of 5. Add to that love lots of training and the determination to “be on the podium” and you have the recipe that saw this young girl become a household name in the motocross wor...

An Igby Prize essay on how freedom to self-govern is not enough cause for celebration by Joyline Maenzanise
April 18 marked the anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence from British colonial rule. I appreciate the brazen efforts of the folks who fought tooth and nail — some of whom lost their loved ones, their lives or limbs — to take back what was stolen from us. Surely, Zimbabwe would not have been born has these freedom fighters remained silent and assimilated into a system that sought to ma...

Masturbation is natural and healthy and benefits our relationships with ourselves and our partners in more ways than one, says Joyline Maenzanise
If you’ve seen the movie Someone Marry Barry, I’m sure you agree that the movie is not only funny but has some enlightening and thought-provoking moments too. Consider the conversation between the two roommates, Melanie and Paige:
Mel: Babe, you’ve got to learn to love yourself before others can love you.
Paige: My self-esteem is fine now.
Mel: No! ...

I had seen the pictures of the lodge on the website and they were breath-taking. However, having visited a lodge the previous year whose net pictures were a huge disappointment I wondered if Matobo Hills Lodge would also turn out to be just another case of “false advertising”.
The 55km kilometre drive from the hustle and bustle of BULAWAYO was refreshing and cathartic. As the noise of the city made way for the peace and beauty of the flora, I couldn’t help but smile.
There are said to be over...

Alvin Chitena is an ambitious 21-year-old Zimbabwean whose love for computers, which developed in his preteen years, saw him acquire skills like assembling a computer from scratch. He is currently enrolled at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, US, where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, with Computer Science as his major and Data Analysis as his second subject. In 2016, his first year of study, he started an organisation that teaches young people to code. He called it Zim Code and it is bas...

Why do LGBTQI+people place pressure on one another to live up to norms and roles established by mainstream patriarchy? asks Joyline Maenzanise.
The LGBTQI+ community has come far – and we are still at it, as the fight for our rights continues. We continue to challenge patriarchal, (cis)heteronormative systems that are often predicated on religion and work to erase (or refuse to acknowledge) our existence, thus fuelling or perpetuating discrimination against us in more ways than one. Yes, we c...