Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe Harassed Once Again at the International Book Fair


On Friday 5th August, at around 3 p.m., a group of unidentified, smartly dressed, men approached the GALZ stand at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair and stated that Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)--this year's Felipa de Souza Award winner for advocating for the human rights and sexual rights of all persons whose gender or sexual identities or expressions do not conform to social or cultural norms or HIV status given by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission--was not allowed to be at the Fair. According to Keith Goddard, the Executive Director of GALZ, the men left and then entered the Book Fair offices where they issued threats against Book Fair staff. They returned to the GALZ stand and started packing away GALZ literature. GALZ members tried to attract the attention of police officers and security guards patrolling the gardens but all of them refused to intervene. The GALZ staff, seeing that they would receive no assistance, and not wishing any violence to take place packed up their belongings and withdrew.