TikTok activism: how queer Zimbabweans use social media to show love and fight hate
Such homophobic utterances further reduced the spaces where LGBTIQ+ people could live and express themselves without fear.
- Such homophobic utterances further reduced the spaces where LGBTIQ+ people could live and express themselves without fear.
- As a result, queer love is often made fun of, despised or ignored and queer couples can’t openly show their love.
- These spaces represent a powerful act of resistance, a way for queer Zimbabweans to claim their right to exist and express themselves.
- As scholars of queer studies, we examine in our research how LGBTIQ+ Zimbabweans use social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to imagine new ways of being visible.
Social media for change
- As with movements like #MeToo, LGBTIQ+ individuals have used digital technologies to organise and advocate for social change.
- Social media platforms have served as spaces for them to connect, share their stories, create communities, and push for their rights.
- In Zimbabwe, queer individuals use social media to assert their belonging in the nation by combining the national flag with the LGBTIQ+ symbol of the rainbow flag, symbolising their identity and struggles.
Queer love as resistance
- It’s like they’re sending love letters to the world, saying that queer love is just as important and beautiful as any other kind of love.
- They even dress up in traditional African clothes, showing that queer love is part of Zimbabwean culture too.
- Their social media posts aren’t just for fun – they’re a way to fight back against discrimination and show the world that queer love is powerful and important.
Creating safe spaces
- We found that social media platforms not only serve as tools for activism but also provide safe spaces for LGBTIQ+ individuals to express themselves freely.
- In the absence of spaces in the real everyday world where LGBTIQ+ people can openly and freely discuss such issues, virtual spaces become pivotal in affording avenues where topical issues can be discussed.