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Lesbian Activism in Zimbabwe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

Bev Clark
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Extract

“I don’t believe they (lesbians and homosexuals) have any rights at all.”

President Robert Mugabe, 2 August 1995

I remember that it was a Monday. I had been running with my partner over lunch time and we had just returned to my office in town. The doorbell rang and standing outside were about nine policemen and women. Demanding entry, one of the senior officers brandished a search warrant for “pornographic material.”

I was so angry I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had been targeted simply because I worked for the national Zimbabwean lesbian and gay organization. Furthermore, the police had no broader agenda other than to intimidate and harass me under the pretext of searching for pornography.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , 1997 , pp. 31 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1997 

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Footnotes

*

Bev Clark, born in Zimbabwe in 1964, is a lesbian and human rights activist. She lives in Harare and has been with her partner for 15 years. They have both worked in the lesbian and gay movement for many years and have contributed to the growth and success of the national lesbian and gay organization (GALZ).

References

Notes

1. Submission to GALZ magazine, April 1994.

2. Mugabe, 1995.

3. Letter to GALZ magazine, May 1996.

4. Author interview, November 1995.

5. Author interview, December 1994.

6. Submission to GALZ magazine, April 1994.

7. Herald, 1996.

8. President Robert Mugabe addressing the ZANU PF Women’s League in Harare, August, 1995.

9. The Economist, August 1996.

10. GALZ magazine, April 1993.