CHAPTER 9 SEXUAL MINORITIES: LGBTQIA RIGHTS The LGBTQIA and the Constitution Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees equality both as a founding value in terms of section 3, but also as a right in terms of section 56. However, there have been long-held negative views against the same sex community and other sexual orientation referred to as lesbians, gays, bi-sexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBQIA). The nation is yet to accept equality and non-discrimination to imply protection of those of different sexual orientation and preference. When the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) conducted consultations across the country in the development of the current Constitution, general public sentiment was against protection of the LGBTQIA rights in the Constitution. As a result, section 56 in the Constitution conspicuously omits sexual orientation and preference as a ground for discrimination. More expressly, section 78 of the Constitution which regulates marriage rights states that “Persons of the same sex are prohibited from marrying each other”. What this means is that the LGBTQIA community finds no concrete protection of their sexualrights – albeit members of the community are accorded every other right in terms of the law and the Constitution. What is problematic about that position nonetheless is that, as human rights are interrelated, interconnected and indivisible, limiting one right and granting others has the effect of diminishing the substance and meaning of those other rights that are granted. Harassment and Discrimination Members of the LGBTQA community also had higher rates of unemployment and homelessness. According to GALZ, LGBTI persons often left school at an early age due to discrimination. Higher education institutions reportedly threatened to expel students based on their sexual orientation. The primary organisation advancing the rights of the LGBTQIA community in Zimbabwe is the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ). In terms of harassment, the institution witnessed reduced incidences comparative to 2017 and previous years. The most publicly known 2018 case that ended in an end of employment of a gay man involved a deputy headmaster at St John College, an elite private school in Harare North, who on the 21st of September disclosed his gay sexual orientation during a school assembly at the allboys high school after a media house had threatened to disclose his orientation. Parents protested the proclamation and hired attorneys who demanded resignation of the deputy headmaster and threatened a lawsuit. While there was no change in law and policy, government heavy-handedness was somewhat relaxed in 2018 in that there were no overt and direct government attacks against the LGBTQIA community. Previously, GALZ was at the receiving end of raids and searches at their offices in Harare. GALZ reported that many persons who identified themselves as LGBTQIA did not seek medical care for sexually transmitted diseases or other health problems due to fear that healthcare providers would shun them or report them to authorities. The deputy headmaster tendered his resignation on 28 September, citing that he was receiving 42 STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT ZIMBABWE 2018