Tsitsi Tiripano

Poliyanna Mangwiro (1967 – May 2001), known as Tsitsi Tiripano, was a Zimbabwean lesbian activist. In 2000, Amnesty International honored her as a human rights defender of the year.

Personal life Poliyann Mangwiro was born in 1967, the oldest child in her family. At age 15, she was forcibly married off to a 55-year-old male Christian church leader in her community.

Several years later, at age 21, she left her husband and their two sons to live with a female partner in Harare. She returned to live in her home community of Marondera two years later and was able to reunite with her two children, then ages 16 and 18, whom her former husband allowed her to see on condition that she did not speak to them about homosexuality.

Activism In 1988, Mangwiro first heard the English term "lesbian" from a drag queen friend, learning that there were other women like herself who had relationships with women.

Out of concern for her safety as a lesbian activist, she began using the name Tsitsi Tiripano, "Tsitsi" meaning "compassion" and "Tiripano" meaning "we are there," as a way of expressing that the LGBTQ community exists and deserves compassion. She worked with the organization to denounce homophobic violence in Zimbabwe. When she returned to her home in Marondera, she was met by villagers chanting homophobic slogans and threatening her with violence. After receiving this honor, she participated in a tour of North America and Europe to raise awareness of the situation of gay and lesbian Zimbabweans.