For many LGBTQIA+ individuals, rejection and abuse disrupt educational pathways and limit future opportunities. Combined with systemic discrimination, these barriers often result in reduced access to stable employment, financial independence, and the ability to fully participate in and contribute to the broader economy. Two recently published studies shed light on the often-overlooked financial and social benefits of actively including LGBTQIA+ communities in economic life. They highlight not only the transformative potential of inclusion, but also the significant costs that discrimination imposes on national economies.
After years of abuse at the hands of her mother because of her sexual orientation, Busisiwe N., a young lesbian woman, was eventually left with no choice but to leave home. Still only a teenager at the time, Busisiwe N. then spent a few years in “semi-homelessness”, living on-and-off with her uncle, a drug dealer. With little means to support herself, she began “helping out” by selling drugs.
“That’s where my focus was, because [it gave me] money, so I could go to school. So, I was safe. I didn’t have to worry about anything or anyone,” she says.
For many LGBTQIA+ persons, rejection and abuse by parents, community and/or at school often leads to them not completing their education. This, in addition to other forms of discrimination, leads to much-reduced chances of finding gainful employment — and, through this, providing for themselves and contributing to the broader economy.
Studies on the benefits of LGBTQIA+ inclusion
Two recently published studies are shining a light on the “often overlooked” financial and social benefits of actively including LGBTQIA+ persons in the broader economy.
Published at the tail-end of 2024, a report published by The Other Foundation, and titled Size Matters, asks: “How big is the [South African] LGBTI market and what economic influence does the LGBTI market have?”
Titled, The Economic Case for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in East Africa, a report published in 2025 by the coalition of global businesses, Open for Business, “explores the current economic and business environments in four East African countries – Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda”. The report argues that “greater LGBTQ+ inclusion could contribute to a strengthening of these countries’ economies and the businesses within them”.
The South African report notes that “international studies have focused on the economic cost to the country of discrimination against LGBTI people, but none have focused on the economic opportunity that LGBTI people can offer if they are included as a market segment”.
The report found that, despite South Africa’s progressive and queer-inclusive Constitution, “systemic inequalities remain entrenched”.
It found that the South African LGBTI market is worth at least R250 billion a year. “This value is impressive,” it states, “especially considering the challenges and discrimination many LGBTI South Africans still face in their everyday lives. Despite the hurdles — from unequal access to education to ill-treatment in service settings — LGBTI people have carved out a remarkable presence in the South African market.”
The report found that 75% are employed either part-time or full time, and that 50% live on modest earnings, while 44% hold managerial positions, “showing that LGBTI professionals are advancing into positions of influence within their places of work”. Seventy percent support other people financially and 35% have children or are guardians to children.
It also found that 90% of LGBTI people are engaged in some form of income-generating activity, and that 61% are more motivated to buy from inclusive businesses. Ninety percent of those surveyed said they intended to start their own business, although 45% do not have access to the resources to do so.
Seventy-five percent of queer South African entrepreneurs said they would benefit from access to funding to start and grow their business.
Funding is, however, not the only solution. Jabu Pereira, the founder and former executive director of the South African lesbian, transgender and intersex rights organisation, Iranti, says: “Just start your initiative, you’ve got to [deal with many forms of discrimination] while you are trying to build something. You’ve got to fight stigma while you are trying to create joy. Everybody wants to have a purpose and drive. But I think that in these kinds of situations, when you don’t have that kind of agency, you’re also struggling with issues of loneliness. And that loneliness is exacerbated by systemic discriminations and economic exclusions. So, what do you wake up to every day? If someone’s going to mess with you every day because you’re trans. If you walk down the road and you’re going to get discriminated [against], what is your likelihood of having a life that is fulfilling? And I think a lot of people that do continue doing this, do it despite of discrimination. They do it knowing that someone’s going to mess with them today, but they need to make a livelihood. Someone’s going to steal their goods, but whatever is left, they need to sell it.”
The Size Matters report found that the majority (78%) of respondents have experienced discrimination in some way, and 56% have endured some form of violence, harassment, and bullying.
“This situation,” it added, “is particularly alarming for transgender and gender nonconforming respondents, who reported higher rates of discrimination, violence, and harassment — approximately 20% higher than the survey average.”
Potential to be unlocked
The report continued: “The value of the LGBTI market is testament to the economic potential that could be unlocked if barriers to full participation are removed and more accepting social attitudes prevail.”
In Kenya, social attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ persons are arguably less accepting than South Africa, making the barriers to inclusion in the East African country that much greater for queer persons. Ishmael Bahati, executive director of PEMA Kenya, says: “The economic [prospects] of queer persons is quite low. We are not doing very well.”
Bahati adds that, as in South Africa, there are “less in terms of percentages of people who manage to complete high school. It is quite low. Let alone the ones that even manage to go to the university.”
Bahati says that, due to this situation, many queer persons either try starting their own businesses or seek employment at queer organisations. “But again, the organisations themselves are very few and they cannot accommodate the large number of unemployed LGBT persons.”
Those who do start their own businesses, Bahati adds, are also often targeted when there are anti-LGBT uprisings. “So, sometimes people find it very difficult to really invest because there’s always fear that if you put your own money in [to the business], it’s likely to be destroyed during the anti-LGBT [protests].”
Queerphobia has negative effects on the economy
The East Africa report found that queerphobic societal attitudes and policies have a significant impact on not only queer persons and communities, but also on the broader economy. Noting that “laws that harm the LGBTQ+ community are standing in the way of prosperity and growth for all citizens in the region”, it estimates that Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania “lose up to USD 5 billion each year due to the financial costs associated with factors including foreign direct investment (FDI), talent flight, healthcare-related costs and the price of anti-LGBTQ+ policing”.
The report found that Sub-Saharan countries with better records on LGBTQ+ rights have a higher GDP per capita; the high levels of corruption in these four countries are highly correlated with their poor records on LGBTQ+ rights; negative press in the global media portrays the region poorly with regard to LGBTQ+ rights in key investor and tourism feeder countries, which in turn drive critical economic decisions; and that companies large and small in the region report that efforts to increase inclusion show benefits of improved corporate reputation, greater ability to attract and retain talent, improved employee performance, and more diverse perspectives informing decision-making.
Bahati says: “The lack of economic growth among LGBT persons is due to lack of inclusive policies. I would encourage employers to ensure that they understand. And sometimes it’s also just good to, if you don’t have a good understanding, to encourage sensitisation about LGBT [persons and their lives within the] workspace so that people understand that LGBT persons are good people. They are people that can contribute to the larger economy.”
Years since her “semi-homeless” days, Busisiwe N. has transformed from someone selling drugs to someone making a significant difference in her community. Through a food-growing initiative — under the umbrella of Triangle Project’s Queer Food Growing Collective — she is now feeding, educating and inspiring school children in her community.
What initially started out on the grounds of a church in the township of Mbekweni, in the Western Cape, has now relocated to a school with a larger property and increased security.
The opportunity to start this initiative came after years of volunteering for Triangle Project, a non-profit human rights organisation based in Cape Town. Seeing the potential in Busisiwe N., and her hard work ethic, Triangle Project raised funds for her to complete a course in permaculture.
Triangle Project’s Carol Lennon says that, “ideally, the goal is to have gardens that will produce an income while serving a purpose to the community as well.”
While the garden is yet to yield a solid income for Busisiwe N., she says it “makes me very happy”.
Says Busisiwe N.: “Seeing kids help out in the garden really makes me happy. Some ask for compost to take home. Some have their own small garden because, since I started the garden, they also have their gardens now at home. So those things, for me, are the fulfilling moments.
“Waking up to spend nearly six hours at the school is fine as long as I don’t get to wake up and not do anything for those six hours,” she says. “It’s always just about trying to be self-sufficient. Just trying to maintain myself and who I am and not letting anything tear me down as a queer person.”
Carl Collison*
*Carl Collison is a journalist, photographer, filmmaker and researcher, who focuses specifically on producing LGBTIQ-related content from across Africa. While a researcher with Human Rights Watch, Collison worked on projects centred around LGBTIQ+ migrants and asylum seekers in South Africa as well as the impacts of Uganda’s most recent Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He is the founder and editor of the online publication and multimedia production company, Beyond the Margins, and the co-founder and co-executive director of Purple Mountain Arts residency, a creative safe space for queer and marginalised African creatives.
A publication for Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation as part of the project “The Pink Factor: LGBTQI+-Rights in the Geopolitical Conflict about Values and Resources”.
