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Gays
and Lesbians of Zimbabwe at the World Social Forum
Taurai Maduna, Kubatana.net
February 12, 2007
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audio file details
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| Fadzai
Muparutsa, Programme Manager for Gender Gays and Lesbians Asscociation
of Zimbabwe (GALZ) |
 In
February 2006, 19-year-old Zoliswa
Nkonyana from Khayelitsha in Cape Town, South Africa was brutally
murdered. The Mail & Guardian in South Africa reported
that Zoliswa and a friend were taunted for being lesbians by a group
of heterosexual girls. The paper went on to say that Zoliswa was
"clubbed, kicked and beaten to death by a mob of about 20 young
men on February 4".
Towards the end of 2006 four men who live in their neighbourhood
savagely attacked seven Harare women who are members of the Gays
and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ). One of the women
had a knife pushed into her vagina.
Such brutal attacks on Gays and Lesbians in Africa were some of
the issues discussed at the World Social Forum (WSF), which was
held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2007.
Fadzai
Muparutsa, Programme Manager for Gender with GALZ represented her
organisation at the WSF. She told Kubatana.net that she had gone
to give support to the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK),
which was established in 2006. listen
to audio file
Pauline Kimani of GALCK told Inter Press Service that they hoped
that the WSF would transform Kenyan and Africa's views on homosexuals.
"We are saying we exist and that we are part of society. We want
to be treated as people because we are people, we are human beings
living in the same world," she added.
Events on homosexuality were mostly held at a venue set up by GALCK
called the Q-Spot.
It is reported to have been one of the most popular venues at the
WSF.
According
to Fadzai a lot of capacity building took place at the Q-Spot. She
said one of the biggest challenges at the Q-Spot was trying to explain
to people that homosexuality is not an imported colonial construct.
"A lot of people think it’s very unAfrican to be homosexual
and think it is a colonisation thing," she said. listen
to audio file
But Fadzai isn’t one to be fazed and she said she welcomed the challenge
to change people’s mindset especially faced with a government that
is not receptive to gay and lesbian issues. "It’s hard for
someone to unlearn what he or she has learnt," she said. listen
to audio file
While
the Gay and Lesbian community advocated for their rights, Firoze
Manji, editor for Pambazuka News wrote that not everybody was
equally represented. "This event had all the features of a
trade fair – those with greater wealth had more events in the calendar,
larger (and more comfortable) spaces, more propaganda – and therefore
a larger voice," he said.
Fadzai
concurred with Manji’s comments. She went on to say that while some
minority groups were present their events were given very little
publicity. According to Fadzai one of the setbacks of the WSF in
Nairobi was that it was poorly organised. Basic things like getting
a programme of events, and events changing all the time dogged the
smooth running of the WSF. listen
to audio file
She
added that for the WSF to be more effective there was a need for
various interest groups to be given a more prominent platform so
that their voices were heard. She said issues such as poverty; health,
HIV/AIDS, governance issues and discrimination of minority groups
must be given more prominence in future.
Notwithstanding these criticisms Fadzai said she enjoyed participating
and described her visit to Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa,
as an "eye-opener". She said she had not seen anything
like that in Zimbabwe.
Back home, Fadzai said she would be sharing and implementing what
she learnt in Nairobi at GALZ. One of the major areas that need
to be addressed is to increase the dissemination of information
on gay and lesbian issues. "The most critical area is schools
where gays and lesbians are often stigmatised because of their sexual
orientation," she said. listen
to audio file
Fadzai explained that GALZ only works with people who have reached
the legal age of majority, which is 18 in Zimbabwe. GALZ does not
assist those below 18 and those in schools for fear that they will
be accused of "recruiting" homosexuals. However GALZ does
refer those 18 and younger who need help to other support organisations.
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