LGBT group tackles ‘blind’ higher education institutions

The organisation Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has started a process of engaging universities and other higher learning institutions in the country as part of a broader strategy to strengthen academic freedom of members of their community who face homophobic attacks, writes Nqobani Ndlovu for The Standard.

This follows research undertaken by GALZ in January 2019 showing that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community faces rights violations at higher tertiary institutions with no clear or ready mechanism to deal with the discrimination.

“So far the university is not so open to support LGBTI even though there are some members of staff who are accepting and understanding to our issues … We have a long way to go before the inclusion of LGBTI people in universities,” the GALZ ‘campus climate survey’ report reads in part. “Most institutions are blind when it comes to issues of sexuality and them refusing to confront such realities is what is making most LGBTI persons suffer from depression.”
Full report on The Standard site