Luiz DeBarros : Building visibility, one story at a time

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Recipient of the Simon Nkoli Award | Feather Awards 2024




For more than two decades, Luiz DeBarrows has been at the foredront of telling South Africa's queer stories. As the founder of MambaOnline, the country's longest-running and leading LGBTI+ news and lifestyle platform, he has created a space where queer South Africans could be seen, heard, and understood. 


When MambaOnline launched in 2001, representation of LGBTI+ people in South African media was almost non-existent. DeBarros recognised that silence - and decided to fill it. His platfrom become a vital source of news, opinion,and cultural conversation, amplifying queer visibility at a time when few dared. Through his leadership, MambaOnline has informed and united a community, while holding institutions accountable and celebrating everyday moments of pride.

 

But his work goes far beyond journalism. In 1995, DeBarros co-founded Underdog Productions, where he served as a Creative Director for over a decade. There, he explored identity and transformation through film. His short film Hot Legs (1995) and the documentary Metamorphosis: The Remarkable Journey of Granny Lee (2000) gave voice to LGBTI+ experiences that had long been ignored. 


As Strategic Communications Manager at OUT LGBT Well-being, one of the country's leading LGBTI+ rights and health organisation, DeBarros combined media expertise with activism - shaping camapaigns that promoted dignity,safety, and access to services for queer South Africans.

 

A graduate of the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), where he earned a degree in English, Psychoology, and Film Studies, DeBarros has always viewed storytelling as a brigde - between communities, between identities, and between the personal and the political. 


This year's Simon Nkoli Award honours Luiz DeBarros for his unwavering commitment to visibility and eqaulity. Like Nkoli, he has used his voice - not on the streets, but through words and images - to challenge prejudice, build understanding, and give the South African LGBTI+ community a home in its own narrative. 




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