Ngoni Dapira

AS the old saying goes, “What we do not understand, we fear. What we fear, we judge as evil. What we judge as evil, we attempt to control. And what we cannot control, we attack.”  This is the way civilizations have conformed since time immemorial. The plight of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) worldwide is best explained by that old adage and lessons can best be learnt from others that underwent the same bombardment, such as the earliest HIV and AIDS patients, who faced all sorts of stigma and discrimination until such a time when there was acceptance and assimilation towards infected people worldwide.

To really appreciate stigma and discrimination, how it is fuelled by ignorance and fear of the unknown, one needs to appreciate the milestone achievement of HIV and AIDS. Zimbabwe’s journey to combat HIV and AIDS, to reach its current less alarming prevalence rate levels was long and cumbersome and took a lot of self-sacrifice by some bold individuals who became activists, after they came out, publicly revealing their HIV positive status, especially during harsh times in the late 1980’s when stigma and discrimination was at a peak worldwide.

It is now 34-years since Zimbabwe recorded its first HIV and AIDS case. It was a milestone achievement for Government to recognize and acculturate its people to freely come out and shun stigma against the pandemic, however, it is important to note that it was not an overnight change, but a process that took a lot of lobbying, activism and consultation with Government. Zimbabwe’s HIV prevalence rate among people aged 15-49 has been declining, currently estimated at 14.3 percent from as high as 26.5 percent in 1997.

Present-day though stigma is still prevalent against people living with HIV, it is now at levels close to insignificant compared to when the disease first broke out, mostly because it is now well supported by Government through sound policies and laws. The early years of HIV and AIDS were marked by much denial, but pivotal in fighting stigma in Zimbabwe in the formative years was HIV and AIDS activist Auxillia Chimusoro, who is now late. In a televised interview in 1989, Chimusoro revealed to the world that she was HIV positive. She received a lot of insults but also drew a lot of praise and set the tone for the national campaign against stigma of people with HIV. Immediately after, support groups were started and she became an internationally acclaimed HIV and AIDS activist until her death in 1998.

Sadly though, in Zimbabwe, at first there was so much denial by the government until 1990 when HIV and AIDS issues started being debated in the public domain, at levels which could not be ignored. However, through various interventions to mainstream the epidemic, most people began to understand more about HIV and AIDS and the biggest breakthrough was in 1999 when Government created the National Aids Council (NAC) through an Act of Parliament. That became the highest level of Government support and acceptance of the scourge of the epidemic, realizing a need for supporting policies and structures internally. In January 2000, the Aids Levy was introduced, and companies and workers started being taxed three percent of income to help fund HIV and AIDS interventions in the country.

To reach the current levels of Government support and acceptance by the people, from a backdrop of high levels of secrecy, discrimination and stigma, this is the epitomic dream of the LGBTI community in Zimbabwe. To realize non- discrimination and stigma against their sexual orientation and for them to be accepted in society and lawfully do what they want as ‘ordinary’ citizens has been a pipe-dream for the Zimbabwean LGBTI community, but whether it will come true or not, only time will tell, though most are currently pinning their hope that now is the time under the new dispensation government.

To better understand the plight of the LGBTI EasternTimesZim conducted some research and likened it to the same barrage that HIV and AIDS faced back then, being termed a ‘rare and deadly disease’ or derogatory Shona words such as ‘shuramatongo’ and ‘mukondombera’, due to that fear of the unknown by people, but eventually people embraced the disease after learning more about it. Up-to-date there is no 100 percent success rate to combating stigma against people living with HIV, and this will be the same reaction and tolerance towards the LGBTI, who are not understood thus feared and discriminated.

LGBTI historical narrative

In 1980 after independence, the new Zimbabwe government inherited and adopted the law against sodomy, but initially, just like it was before independence under the colonial government regime, the law was very unnoticeable and was rarely enforced. However, as time went by, the pendulum shifted and a wave of homophobic rhetoric started. Nonetheless, regardless of there being strict laws that convicted crimes of sodomy and aggravated indecent assault, there remained an active gay presence in most urban areas in the country, according to the LGBTI rights group, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ).

In 1990 GALZ was formed, with one of its main goals back then intending to assist people with HIV and AIDS. By then, the HIV virus pandemic had become widespread across the country. In 1996, the then President Robert Mugabe broke the silence when he publicly made a bold call against homosexual men and women and Government from there started active campaigns against homosexuality in Zimbabwe, making its laws against sodomy more stringent and enforceable.

Homosexuality was mainstreamed as highly taboo socially through Mugabe’s anti-gay stance. Gays and lesbians in Zimbabwe as a result faced a lot of discrimination, harassment and violence. Currently, Zimbabwe stands in sharp contrast with neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique which have since enacted LGBTI protection laws. In June this year, High court judges in Botswana ruled that laws criminalising same-sex relations were unconstitutional and should be struck down, which became a major victory for gay rights campaigners in Africa. Many LGBTI in Zimbabwe, therefore choose to remain discreet about their sexual orientation whilst some have migrated to South Africa, which they consider to be a more open-minded nation on LGBTI protection laws. However, since Mugabe’s ouster from the presidency in November 2017, LGBTI activists have expressed hopes of brighter days to come under the new dispensation government of President Mnangagwa.

During the Mugabe era, the highpoint that propelled the anti-gay slur was the public exposure and arrest back in 1996, of his predecessor, the country’s first black President after independence, Canaan Banana, who was convicted of sodomy and indecent assault. The trial was public and the former President was arrested based on accusations made during the murder trial of his former bodyguard, Jefta Dube, in which he was eventually found guilty of 11 charges of sodomy and indecent assault in 1998. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, demoted and served six months in an open prison. However, the wife later maintained that, whilst her husband Canaan was gay, the charges had been politically motivated and were meant to oust him (Banana) from power.

Years later in the new millennium, in 2006, Government passed a “sexual deviancy” law that criminalised any actions “perceived as homosexual.” This made it a criminal offence for two people of the same sex to literally hold hands or kiss, with penalties of fines or prison convictions of up to 10 years. Mugabe’s homophobic rhetoric continued with his tough stance against homosexuality after he made headlines in 2015, when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that his country would not accept homosexuality, saying that those of homosexual orientation were worse than “pigs and dogs.”

Why talk about LGBTI in Zimbabwe now?

As years passed by in the new millennium, the anti-gay smear grew in Zimbabwe, mostly because being LGBTI was  ill-conceived, culturally, morally and biblically, just like HIV and AIDS in its preliminary years, and as a result negative attitudes were mainstreamed by media against the LGBTI community. That said, with the media perceived as a mirror of society, present-day, its role in leveling the discourse on the LGBTI discourse in Zimbabwe and worldwide in general, has been viewed as very critical, especially in the new dispensation era under President Mnangagwa, who is viewed by GALZ as a leader who has a more ‘tolerant’ approach towards the LGBTI plight, through his all-inclusive and embracive mantra ‘Zimbabwe is open for business.’ GALZ director, Chester Samba last year said there was already fewer incidents of abuses against the LGBTI community since President Mnangagwa took over as president of the country.

The law and most personal attitudes in the country have not been supportive of same-sex couples due to Mugabe’s homophobic rhetoric, but GALZ believes this is the time to exercise true democracy on the matter. “Sexual orientation is a natural part of who you are, it’s not a choice. Your sexual orientation can change over your lifetime and that is our case as LGBTI. We long for that day when we will freely come out in public and not avoid public displays of affection and receive negative attention,” said one lesbian from the GALZ Mutare chapter who requested anonymity.

During a recently held one-day media conscientization meeting organised by GALZ in collaboration with the National Association of Freelance Journalists (NAFJ) at the GALZ Mutare drop-in-centre, GALZ revealed that it opened the drop in centre last year to serve the psycho-social support needs of its LGBTI community in Manicaland. GALZ has now decentralized its operations from Harare and now has drop-in-centres in Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare and Masvingo.

During the Mutare meeting, GALZ service and policy advocacy officer Sylvester Nyamatendedza said the LGBTI community is not claiming for any special or additional rights, but the same human rights as those of other human beings enshrined in the Constitution. “It’s not completely known why someone might be lesbian, gay, straight or bisexual. But research shows that sexual orientation is likely caused partly by biological factors that start before birth. People don’t decide who they are attracted to and therapy, treatment or persuasion won’t change a person’s sexual orientation. Most people start to become aware of who they are attracted to at a very young age and many people say that they knew they were lesbian, gay, or bisexual even before puberty,” said Nyamatendedza.

Nyamatendedza added that although sexual orientation is usually set early in life, it is not at all uncommon for one’s desires and attractions to shift throughout your life. He even asserted that it has been discovered that in some cases some homophobic people actually had sexual attraction towards LGBTI’s but suppress their true feelings through prejudice against homosexual people who come out. Explaining on sexual orientation, sexual behavior and sexual identity he said what people feel or do is not always the same as how they identify themselves. “Not everyone who has sexual feelings or attractions to the same gender will act on them. Some people may engage in same gender sexual behavior but not identify themselves as bisexual, lesbian or gay. For some people, sexual orientation can shift at different periods in their lives and the labels they use for themselves may shift too,” said Nyamatendedza.

Laws on homosexuality in Zimbabwe

Laws criminalising homosexuality in Zimbabwe carry penalties of up to 10 years in jail, but police often arrest LGBTI on speculation, then set them free without bringing charges, mostly because it is hard to catch them in the act of sodomy.

Common law prohibitions include sodomy, defined as the “unlawful and intentional sexual relations between two human males”. Sodomy is classified as unlawful sexual conduct and defined in Zimbabwe’s Criminal Code as either anal sexual intercourse or any “indecent act” between consenting adults. The law also applies to heterosexuals, but not to lesbians.

Common law also prohibits unnatural offences, defined as the unlawful and intentional commission of an unnatural sexual act by one person with another person. Section 11 of the Censorship and Entertainments Control Act, which provides that no person shall import, print, publish, distribute, or keep for sale any publication which is undesirable (defined as “indecent or obscene or is offensive or harmful to public morals or is likely to be contrary to public health”) has been used to harass LGBTI people and activists.

The 2006 Sexual Deviancy law criminalized any actions perceived as homosexual. Before then, laws against sodomy were limited to sexual activity and the revised law now stated that sodomy was any “act involving contact between two males that would be regarded by a reasonable person as an indecent act,” as a result arrests were made on speculations.

GALZ revealed that over the years due to the tough stance against LGBTI in the country they were operating in the shadows because LGBTI people who came out have been repeatedly detained, tortured and sometimes raped by the ’authorities’ citing that the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) was used to beat and arrest LGBTI’s. Nyamatendedza however said since they set up the drop in centres, so far there have been no clashes with CIOs in terms of raids, bearing in mind that the centres are supposed to be safe havens for psycho-social support of LGBTI people.

In January 2018, President Mnangagwa spoke on the issue of LGBTI rights for the first time during an interview, in which he was quoted saying, “Those people who want it (same-sex marriage) are the people who should canvass for it, but it’s not my duty to campaign for this.” That same year in June, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party, met with LGBTI activists to discuss the situation of LGBTI rights in Zimbabwe in a bid to “improve the lives of LGBTI people through local governance.”

Samba was also quoted after that meeting saying the meeting was historic and an optimistic start for more engagements on anti-LGBTI legislative reforms in the country. “As an initial meeting it was great that they responded positively and somewhat surprising as this marked a departure from the previous leadership which did not engage with us. A willingness to engage is indeed an important shift,” said the GALZ director in an interview with a local newspaper.

GALZ engagement efforts

On health care for LGBTI, the fact that commercial sex work and homosexual acts are considered illegal in Zimbabwe, this can create a variety of situations that negatively affect members of these key populations more than the general populations, which is why access to healthcare is another critical concern. In July this year, the Ministry of Health and Child Care adopted new training manuals to be used by health professionals when dealing with LGBTI and sex workers.

The manuals read: “The programme is to educate and equip healthcare providers in Zimbabwe with the knowledge and skills to enable them to provide health services that support and adequately cater for the unique healthcare needs of sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender and non-gender conforming people and people who inject and use drugs.” That same month, it was announced that five new health centres would open in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare and Kwekwe to cater for the health needs of gay and bisexual men.

In June a capacity building workshop for 70 legislators who sit in various parliamentary portfolio committees including health, justice and gender was held in Mutare. The legislators toured various institutions among them, the GALZ Mutare drop-in –centre and a Centre for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research (CeSHHAR) Zimbabwe mobile clinic. “The programme was in partnership with the Ministry of Health and National Aids Council. The dialogue was prompted by the commitment made by the Health Ministry to end HIV/AIDS by 2030, making sure no one is left behind in the 90-90-90 targets. Issues discussed during the tour of the DIC included access to health services, legal barriers to justice as well as sharing of lived experiences from LGBTI community members after coming out, how they deal with family, society, religion and culture,” said Nyamatendedza.

Although international researchers have been trying to study how many people are LGBTI, they say it is very difficult to get an accurate number. This is because gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual identity and sexual behavior are complicated for people. GALZ however said it is actually in the process of conducting Zimbabwe’s first census to ascertain the country’s position in terms of its LGBTI population, and they hope the survey will be complete by early next year (2020).

During the media conscientization meeting Tendai (real name withheld), who is gay and 29-years old, said he could not hide his sexual orientation anymore as he grew older. This however did not go down well with his parents when they discovered he was gay and more interested in dating other males. Most would think gay men are perculiar looking, but in some cases they come as masculine, handsome and athletic as can be that one will wonder what happened or lacked, but Tendai said sexual orientation was deep rooted than most people think.

“Being born to African parents, they were in denial. I was taken to prophets and traditional healers. They tried it all but that did not change me. I was forced to date girls thinking that it would change me. After several attempts, I decided that I was not being honest with myself and till now I am in a relationship and am deeply in love with my partner,” he said.

Tendai who said he is a devout Christian, said to him there is nothing unholy with his sexual orientation. “I am a devout Christian and frequently go to church,” he said.

Religion and homosexuality argument

His case is no different. Worldwide, Zimbabwe included, clergy sex-abuse scandals and factions over LGBTI inclusion have strongly become the major disputes in most mainline churches such as the Roman Catholic, United Methodist Church (UMC) and the Anglican Church in the past 10 years, fueling anguish and anger within the churches congregants.

The former Anglican Bishop of Harare, Peter Hatendi, in the 1980s and 90s, strongly spoke against homosexuality citing that it was a sin and practicing homosexuals could never be accepted into the church. Discord over whether to welcome or reject LGBTI clergy and same-sex marriage has been building for years among Methodists around the world, but it came to a head in February this year, during a UMC General Conference in St. Louis in the United States of America. UMC, one of the largest mainline Protestant denomination, ended a pivotal conference split over the issue of same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTI clergy. Conservative delegates from Africa and Asia, a growing bloc within the church, joined forces at the conference with U.S conservatives to reaffirm the UMC definition of marriage as “the union of one man and one woman” and to bar the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”

In one of the US newspapers, UMC New York Area resident Bishop Thomas Bickerton who was at the conference was quoted saying, “We are in an untenable situation. We must work intentionally for a way [by which] we bless one another as we head in different directions.”

A Mutare based theologian who requested anonymity for fear of being labeled and victimized told EasternTimesZim that most mainline churches were now split over arguments on whether to condemn or exonerate homosexuality, with many experts digging deep into the bible to justify their ideologies.

“We are in a historical moment where the marginalized voices will not be silenced. Victims of sex abuse and LGBTI communities have also reached the breaking point… The narrative that I know is that the church wants and embraces all people. However, some also feel that God is calling them out of behaviors that are not in-line with his words in the bible, such as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah,” he said.

Explaining further he said, “Sodom was a city destroyed by God because of the evil of its inhabitants. No specific sin is given as the reason for God’s great wrath, but the argument used is that God destroyed these cities because the people of these cities were homosexuals, an argument which LGBTI strongly refute and want demystified,” he said.

Conclusion

The LGBTI story in Zimbabwe and worldwide in general, just like the HIV and AIDS pandemic narrative, is one that we can only wait for time to unravel. However, freedom comes at a price and just like Chimusoro’s HIV activism, some bold LGBTI activists have to take the lead to stand for what they believe in for their freedom to be attained one day. Whether this era under the new dispensation government is the breaking point or not, GALZ said it will bring out all its spanners to try and realize their goal of emancipating the LGBTI community in Zimbabwe. Already events happening worldwide where various nations including African countries have come up with different policies and laws on LGBTI’s, speaks volumes about this unstoppable force.