By Lloyd Takawira
Welcoming me to their apartment in Harare, gay couple Itai* and Peter* exuded glowing love. They have been together for five years and hope to start a family.
“Our hope is one day to show our love in public, to live in a society that doesn’t discriminate against queer people,” Itai said. “We intend in the near future to adopt two children.”
While there is a lot of misconception about gay relationships in Zimbabwe, Itai’s and Peter’s.
“We met during our days at Midlands State University. It’s been a fantastic five years of love,” said Peter.
Itai chimed in, “Same-sex couples can and do have stable, committed, satisfying relationships. Same-sex couples have fallen in and out of love and experienced joy and heartbreak, just like anyone else. We live a happy normal life as a couple. We love each other.”
Itai and Peter disprove and dismiss the notion that LGBTQI+ people are not capable of having healthy and long-term relationships.
Peter said: “My partner and I intend to love each other for the rest of our lives. I have heard some people claim LGBTQI+ people cannot commit and that our relationships are often short-lived. It’s a lie which is usually peddled by homophobes”.
While resolute enough to withstand societal backlash, the two say at times it’s hard when family and friends judge them because of their union.
However, what jolts the two lovebirds most are the country’s laws.
“We would have wanted to come out in the open, have a blissful wedding. However, we can’t because of the laws. The marriages bill as well as Section 78 of the Constitution prohibits marriages between people of the same sex,” said Itai.
While at first their parents struggled to accept their marriage, they later accepted and supported their relationship.
“When they discovered that we were in a relationship, I remember them calling us together. We stood our ground. Here we are,” Peter added.
In their parting words, the couple had some advice for other LGBTQI partners saying, love and respect carries the day in any relationship.
Itai said, “In every healthy long-term intimate relationship, whether same-sex or different-sex, partners need to develop good relationship skills and social support. Same-sex couples need to learn positive coping skills and strategies so that they can meet the challenges and thrive”.
*pseudonyms have been used
‘This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of <Lloyd Takawira/BustopTV> and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union’.
