Current:Home > StocksZimbabwe’s vice president says the government will block a scholarship for LGBTQ+ people -Pinnacle Profit Strategies
Zimbabwe’s vice president says the government will block a scholarship for LGBTQ+ people
Benjamin Ashford View
Date:2025-04-07 19:01:28
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s powerful vice president said the government will block a university scholarship for young LGBTQ+ people, a move that human rights groups described Friday as a perpetuation of the African country’s homophobic practices.
The state university scholarship for people between the ages of 18 and 35 is sponsored by GALZ, a membership organization for LGBTQ+ people in Zimbabwe. The association started offering it in 2018 without incident. But a recent online advertisement inviting applications attracted a harsh response from Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a self-proclaimed devout Catholic and former army commander.
In a strongly worded statement Thursday night, Chiwenga claimed the scholarship was “a direct challenge” to the government’s authority.
“Our schools and institutions of higher learning will not entertain applicants, let alone enroll persons associated with such alien, anti-life, un-African and un-Christian values which are being promoted and cultivated by, as well as practiced in decadent societies with whom we share no moral or cultural affinities,” he said.
GALZ has previously said the scholarship seeks to provide equal access to state universities for LGBTQ+ people who are often ostracized by their families and struggle to pay for higher education. It did not comment on the vice president’s statement.
However, a coalition of human rights groups that GALZ belongs to said it demonstrated that sexual and gender minorities are endangered in Zimbabwe.
“We are extremely concerned about the statement from the second-highest office in the land because it exhibits intolerance, especially taking into account that the advertisement opens young people to so many opportunities,” Wilbert Mandinde, the programs coordinator at Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, told The Associated Press on Friday.
Like many African countries, Zimbabwe has laws criminalizing homosexual activity. Sex between men carries a potential sentence of up to a year in prison, and the country’s constitution bans same-sex marriages.
Chiwenga said Zimbabwe’s anti-gay laws make “any (scholarship) offers predicated on the same aberrations both unlawful and criminal, and a grave and gross affront on our national values and ethos as a Christian nation.”
He said the government “will not hesitate to take appropriate measures to enforce national laws,” adding that young people “should never be tempted to trade or sell their souls for such abominable and devilish offers.”
Zimbabwe has a history of discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people. Former President Robert Mugabe, who ruled the southern African nation for 37 years, once described them as “worse than dogs and pigs” and unworthy of legal rights.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power following a 2017 coup led by Chiwenga when he was still an army general, has been less publicly vocal in his anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. But Chiwenga’s threat to ban the scholarship highlights the continued hostility from authorities and sections of society, including influential religious groups, remains.
In December, Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops, like many of their African counterparts, cautioned against the Pope Francis’ declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, citing “respect of the law of the land, our culture and for moral reasons.”
Zimbabwe has in the past stopped public acts that may appear to demonstrate approval of gay people.
In 2021, a planned visit by a gay South African celebrity, Somizi Mhlongo, for the reopening of a trendy Zimbabwean restaurant was canceled after a Christian sect and members of the ruling ZANU-PF party’s youth wing vowed to block his appearance.
veryGood! (378)
Related
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Club Q to change location, name after tragic mass shooting
- Spain’s acting government to push for a 37½-hour workweek. That’s if it can remain in power
- 'The Hunger Games' stage adaptation will battle in London theater in fall 2024
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Funeral services planned for Philadelphia police officer killed in airport garage shooting
- New York selects 3 offshore wind projects as it transitions to renewable energy
- West Texas county bans travel on its roads to help someone seeking an abortion
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Earth’s climate is 'entering uncharted territory,' new report claims
Ranking
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Trump declines to endorse GOP speaker candidate for now, says he's trying to stay out of it
- 2nd trial in death of New York anti-gang activist ends in mistrial
- Rio de Janeiro deploys helicopters in extra security after a criminal gang torches 35 buses
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- U.S. sending U.S. carrier strike group, additional air defense systems to Persian Gulf
- Stevia was once banned in the US: Is the sugar substitute bad for you?
- Woman found dead in suitcase in 1988 is finally identified as Georgia authorities work to solve the mystery of her death
Recommendation
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
The 49ers are on a losing streak after falling to Vikings in another uncharacteristic performance
Why Travis Kelce’s Dad Says Charming Taylor Swift Didn’t Get the Diva Memo
Blinken says 'humanitarian pauses must be considered' to protect civilians
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Blink-182 announces 2024 tour dates in 30 cities across North America: See the list
Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group kill at least 26 people in eastern Congo
Giannis Antetokoumpo staying in Milwaukee, agrees to three-year extension with Bucks