By Romeo Takundwa
In a conservative society like Zimbabwe involvement in political processes has remained limited to male and female genders and still shuts out the LGBTQI community.
Queer people are marginalized in both the legal and social spheres, hindering them from taking active roles in politics such as running for public office.
In an interview with Bustop TV, Sexual Rights Centre programs director, Mojalifa Mokoele Ndlovu said: “Most LGBTIQ+ people generally have limited knowledge on their constitutional rights. The community is not well appraised of the constitution and democratic processes in the country due to them being marginalized.
Sexual Rights Centre is a local organisation which advocates for the rights of LGBTlQ+ community.
“While civil and political rights are fundamental for every citizen, the LGBTIQ+ populations, due to several constraining factors, seldom participate in civic and democratic processes such as public policy formulation and review consultation meetings, constitutional reforms, and any political election processes.”
Ndlovu pointed out that the inactive participation was due to a myriad of factors which include failure to attain national identity documents mostly by the trans people nd lack of representation in the political sphere.
Trans and Intersex Rising Zimbabwe Programs Director Bee Chihera Meki also highlighted that the LGBTQI community avoid revealing their sexual orientation or gender identity even when they are actively participating in national politics due to fear of discrimination and stigma.
“Political parties shy away from being associated with the LGBTIQ+ community because there are no clear policies which can protect the community from violence and backlash. When it comes to human rights in the country, there is selective application of the law. There is no actual policy which is supportive to the LGBTIQ community’s participation in democracy and governance issues,” she said.
Women’s Academy For Leadership and Political Excellency (WALPE) a women’s political empowerment and leadership academy which capacitates women to run for public elected positions acknowledges the existence of Zimbabwe’s LGBTQI community and the challenges they face when trying to contest for political positions.
WALPE Executive Director, Sitabile Dewa said her organization has been making efforts to reach out to the LGBTQI community and encourage them to apply and participate in their political leadership capacity building training.
“WALPE is socially inclusive in all its selection for leadership training. WALPE puts out calls in public platforms and clarifies the social inclusion aspect of its training,” she said.
Takunda Tsunga, Legal and Advocacy Officer for Electoral Resource Centre (ERC) a think tank and advocacy organization that focuses on electoral and democracy issues in Zimbabwe echoed the same sentiments adding that everyone has the constitutional right to participate in elections and all electoral activities irrespective of sexual orientation.
He said: “The ERC in its effort to mobilize citizens to participate in electoral activities always works with marginalized and disadvantaged communities, as these are the communities that have been sidelined.
“Deliberate efforts need to be made to make electoral participation more inclusive to the LGBTQI community. The ERC has since trained the LGBTQI community on various aspects of the electoral systems and identified challenges to their participation.”
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