ZIMBABWE has refused to buckle under pressure from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community to accept their predisposition.
The local delegation led by Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi is attending the third cycle of
the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva.
Responding to enquiries by the LGBTI, Ziyambi said the
country’s Constitution was clear about the practice and the government will not
drift from what the people voted for in the 2015 referendum.
“On sexual diversity, the Constitution of Zimbabwe guides
our laws on this subject. Sexual diversity is, therefore, outlawed in Zimbabwe.
The Constitution was voted for by 98% of the Zimbabwean population,” Ziyambi
said.
The International Lesbians Association (ILA), in
conjunction with the TransResearch Education and Advocacy, Intersex Community
of Zimbabwe and Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe maintain that while they
concurred with the government’s support to protect intersex minors from
non-consensual intersex surgeries, it is their right to be included in the
Zimbabwean community without discrimination.
An ILA representative said the government must reconsider
its position on the issue of intersex.
“LGBTI persons continue to experience sexual exclusion,
discrimination and stigmatisation. We, therefore, urge the Government of
Zimbabwe to decriminalise the same acts between consenting adults.
“We urge Zimbabwe to reconsider its position and take all
its effort to repeal discriminatory laws that discriminate based on gender and
identity,” ILA said.
Section 73 of the
Criminal (Codification and Reform) Act stipulates that any male person who,
with the consent of another male person, knowingly performs with that other
person anal sexual intercourse, or any act involving physical contact other
than anal sexual intercourse shall be guilty of sodomy. Newsday
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