A teacher at a top Zimbabwean boys’ school has resigned after death threats and pressure from parents after he came out in the open about his sexual orientation. Neal Hovelmeier, deputy head for St John’s College’s sixth form, came out to his students last week.
He was apparently encouraged to do so because a Zimbabwean newspaper was planning on exposing Mr Hovelmeier, the school’s chairman wrote in a letter.
Some parents were outraged by his decision and threatened t o take legal action against him. Zimbabwe is a country where homosexual acts are illegal and homesexuality in general are a sensitive topic.
The teacher, who has worked in the elite school for 15 years, apologised for the distress caused by revealing his sexuality, saying it has since led to “death threats as well as threats of physical danger to myself and my pets”.
“I have come to realise that my current position as deputy headmaster is now untenable,” he wrote in the resignation letter.
The issue of gay rights has always been both controversial and emotive within Zimbabwe’s conservative society.
It was one of the most contentious matters as a new constitution – adopted in 2013 – was being drawn up. The majority of Zimbabweans appeared to support the continued outlawing of homosexual acts – and a clause banning same-sex marriage was added to the country’s laws.
Zimbabwe’s gay community is small and largely operates underground. Secret gay bars do exist and the Gay and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (Galz) is formally registered and recognised as a civil society group, but in the past it has been raided by police.
