MBABANE:Pius Vilakati, the Spokesperson of the Communist Party of Swaziland(CPS)says the Eswatini Government is failing to accept Gays and Lebians as humans and hiding its stance towards the LGBTI community.
LGBTI stands for Lesbian,Gay,Bisexual,Transgender and Intersex, these humans have been struggling to have their rights respected in some African countries.
Government Spokesperson,Alpheous Nxumalo was on Sunday quoted by this Swaziland News as saying Government doesn’t discriminate against Gays and Lesbians adding that it was only African communities that were struggling to accept them.
Responding to the article on Monday, the CPS Spokesperson said Government was hiding the truth as the progressive Swazi society had long accepted the LGBTI community but it was Mswati’s autocracy that was refusing to accept them as human beings.
"The fact of the matter is that the Government is relying on colonial laws and colonial morality to deny the LGBTI community their fundamental rights.The laws still discriminate against all groups outside heterosexual relations, marriages of LGBTI people remain banned,” he said.
Reached for comments, human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi confirmed that same sex marriages were prohibited in the Constitution.
“Same sex marriage is prohibited in Swaziland in terms of section 27(1) of the Constitution which gives men and women the right to marry and found a marriage.
Therefore, the LGBTI community should push for the ammendment of the Constitution so that they are accommodated. After all the constitution guarantees the right to equality, the right to dignity and the freedom of choice or conscience,”said the human rights lawyer.
The LGBTI community in eSwatini has partnered with other LGBTI groups in the Southern African region to call for laws that do not discriminate against them.
Communist Party of Swaziland.