Zimbabwe’s powerful vice president says his government will block university scholarships for LGBTQ+ youth, a move human rights groups described on Friday as perpetuating homophobic practices in the African country.
The state university scholarships, aimed at people aged 18 to 35, are sponsored by GALZ, a membership organization for LGBTQ+ people in Zimbabwe. The association successfully began providing the service in 2018. But a recent online advertisement inviting applications drew a harsh reaction from Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a former army commander who describes himself as a devout Catholic.
In a strongly worded statement on Thursday night, Chiwenga claimed the scholarship was a “direct challenge” to government authority.
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“Our schools and higher education institutions will not accept applicants, much less foreign, anti-life, un-African, un-Christian, encouraged, cultivated and practiced by a decadent society. “We don’t admit people who are associated with religious values. We don’t share moral or cultural affinities with them,” he said.
GALZ previously said the scholarships are aimed at providing equal access to state universities for LGBTQ+ people who are marginalized by their families and struggle to pay for higher education. He did not comment on the vice president’s statement.
But a coalition of human rights groups to which GALZ belongs said it had proven that sexual and gender minorities are at risk in Zimbabwe.
Wilbert Mandinde, Program Coordinator for the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said: “This ad is especially important because the statement from the country’s second-highest government body shows intolerance. Considering that, we are very concerned.” he told The Associated Press on Friday.
Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga (centre) attends a tobacco season opening event in Harare, Zimbabwe on March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsvangirai Mkwazi, File)
Like many African countries, Zimbabwe has laws that criminalize homosexual acts. Sex between men can be punishable by up to a year in prison, and the country’s constitution prohibits same-sex marriage.
Chiwenga said Zimbabwe’s anti-homosexuality laws make “any[scholarship]offer predicated on a similar deviation which is illegal and criminal, and is a grave and gross affront to the national values and ethos of a Christian nation.” He said that it has become.
He said the government “will not hesitate to take appropriate steps to enforce domestic laws” and said that young people “are not tempted to trade or sell their souls for such abhorrent and diabolical offers.” This should never happen,” he added.
Zimbabwe has a history of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people. Former President Robert Mugabe, who ruled the southern African country for 37 years, once described them as “worse than dogs and pigs” and unworthy of legal rights.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who seized power following a 2017 coup led by Chiwenga while he was still an army general, has not made many anti-LGBTQ+ statements in public. But Chiwenga’s threat to ban the scholarships highlights the continued hostility from authorities and sections of society, including influential religious groups.
In December, Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops, like bishops in many African countries, agreed to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, citing “respect for the law of the land, our culture and moral reasons.” He warned against Francis’ declaration.
Zimbabwe has in the past canceled public acts that appeared to show approval of gay people.
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In 2021, a planned visit by South African gay celebrity Somizi Mhlongo to mark the reopening of a trendy Zimbabwean restaurant was overshadowed by a Christian faction and members of the ruling ZANU-PF party’s youth wing who were planning on making his appearance. It was canceled because he vowed to stop it.
