be imparted elsewhere. Normally, out there the information is about heterosexuals, so you only get it here not out there.” Gay Member. Reaching Out: Membership and Mobilisation The impact of raids on the membership and mobilisation has been complex, with both negative and positive impact. Whenever raids have occurred, they get a lot of prominence in the newspapers, which scares some members away but also attracts new members. Membership Retention The GALZ staff noted that there were mainly two types of membership. The first group consists of younger people (above 18 years) who are still living with parents or guardians, professionals with careers, those in heterosexual marriages, older gay men and lesbian women who tend to distance themselves from the organisation when it starts making the headlines, in order to safeguard their interests. The younger ones fear being ‘outed’ to their family members and being chased away from home at a stage that they are not yet capable of taking care of themselves. Because of their insecurity they tend to shy away from the organisation. The prominent individuals and career people tend to feel that the organisation is becoming too political and attracting too much attention, which they believe might have serious repercussions for them, thus they shy away. Generally, those who think that they stand to lose more tend to distance 25 An Assessment of the impact of state sanctioned and unsanctioned raids on GALZ premises and gatherings