‘Gays, lesbians deserve recognition’

THE Gays and Lesbians Zimbabwe (GALZ) has called on government to set up policies and support structures to protect its members from blackmail, abuse and segregation after a teacher at the privately-owned St Johns College in Harare was last week forced to resign after disclosing his sexual orientation at the school.

Neal Hovelmeier — who was a deputy head at the school — announced to students that he was gay, hoping to open a discussion about tolerance and acceptance, according to reports, but faced a backlash from parents and commenters in a country whose 2013 Constitution considers homosexuality as ‘indecent’ and punishable with a prison term.

Speaking at an Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) Conversations on liberal gay rights, particularly in schools, GALZ programmes manager Samuel Matsikure said members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community were suffering from abuse and blackmail owing to the culture of shaming gays.

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