# Recognition of same-sex unions in Zimbabwe

Part of the LGBTQ rights series :
Legal status of same-sex unions :
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See also
Same-sex union legislation
Same-sex union court cases
Timeline of same-sex marriage
Recognition of same-sex unions in Africa
Recognition of same-sex unions in Asia
Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe
Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas
Recognition of same-sex unions in Oceania
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Notes
1 2 Performed in the Netherlands proper (including the Caribbean Netherlands), as well as in Aruba and Curaçao. May be registered in Sint Maarten in such cases, but the rights of marriage are not guaranteed.
↑ Neither performed nor recognized in Niue, Tokelau, or the Cook Islands.
↑ Neither performed nor recognized in six British Overseas Territories.
1 2 Neither performed nor recognized in some tribal nations of the US. Recognized but not performed in several other tribal nations and American Samoa.
↑ Registered foreign marriages confer all marriage rights in Israel. Domestic common-law marriages confer most rights of marriage. Domestic civil marriage recognized by some cities.
1 2 3 4 5 The Coman v. Romania ruling of the European Court of Justice obliges the state to provide residency rights for the foreign spouses of EU citizens. Some member states, including Romania, do not follow the ruling.
↑ A "declaration of family relationship" is available in several of Cambodia's communes which may be useful in matters such as housing, but is not legally binding.
↑ Guardianship agreements confer some limited legal benefits in China, including decisions about medical and personal care.
↑ Hong Kong provides inheritance, guardianship rights, and residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents.
↑ Indian courts have recognised guru–shishya, nata pratha or maitri karar–type contractual relationships, but they are not legally binding.
↑ Most Japanese cities and prefectures issue partnership certificates, but they are not legally binding.
↑ Marriages conducted abroad between a Namibian national and a foreign spouse provide residency rights in Namibia.
↑ Romania provides hospital visitation rights through a "legal representative" status. :
LGBTQ portal :
vte :
Zimbabwe does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions. The Marriages Act does not provide for the recognition of same-sex marriage, and civil partnerships are only available to opposite-sex couples. The Constitution of Zimbabwe explicitly prohibits same-sex marriages.

## Historical recognition of same-sex relationships

While many modern-day Zimbabwean cultures historically practiced polygamy, there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from a Western perspective being performed in those cultures. However, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum. In the 1990s, Canadian researcher Marc Epprecht wrote about pederastic marriages in colonial Zimbabwe. Contemporary oral evidence suggests that same-sex relationships were "common" and "prevalent" in Zimbabwe in the early 20th century, with research by Epprecht estimating that between 70% and 80% of men at the mines took on male sexual partners. It was during this time through the mining compounds and the influence of the Zulu language that the contemporary term ngochani, meaning "homosexual", entered the Shona language. These relationships differed strongly from the Western understanding of same-sex marriages, as men who entered these "mine marriages" continued to marry women and "conform, or appear to conform, to gender expectations", and would not consider themselves as homosexual or bisexual, or "unfaithful to [their] marriage vows". Epprecht further wrote that "enabling migrant men to conserve their health and resources against the temptations of [local] women [in towns near the mines], ngochani strengthened their ability to shore up proper, fecund marriages [back home]". This practice gradually disappeared as Zimbabwe became more modernized and exposed to Western culture and homophobia in the 20th century.
Among the San peoples, marriage (Tshwa: se tcu) is generally between a man in his twenties and a girl in her teens, though polygamy is common. Evidence suggests that same-sex sexual activity was previously "common and relatively accepted" by the San peoples.

## Legal history
### Background

Although in very close proximity, South Africa and Zimbabwe have contrasting political histories in their post-colonial states with regard to LGBT rights. While South Africa's post-apartheid state entrenched LGBT rights in its constitution and legalised same-sex marriage in November 2006, making it the first African nation and the fifth in the world to recognise same-sex marriages, Zimbabwe's post-independent state has strongly opposed homosexuality and same-sex unions. Gays and lesbians experience severe societal and legal discrimination in Zimbabwe, often fleeing to South Africa "to enjoy greater freedom".

### Restrictions

The Marriages Act (Shona: Mutemo weWanano; Northern Ndebele: uMthetho woMtshado), enacted in 2022 by the Parliament of Zimbabwe, defines civil marriage as "[being] monogamous, that is to say, it is the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others and no person may contract any other marriage during the subsistence of a marriage under the general law." Although it does not explicitly forbid same-sex marriages, it generally refers to married spouses as "man" and "woman". Civil partnerships, legalised with the passage of this new law in 2022, are explicitly defined as being between "a man and a woman" who are both over the age of eighteen years, and have lived together on a genuine domestic basis without legally being married. However, Article 78 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe contains an explicit ban on same-sex marriages:
   Persons of the same sex are prohibited from marrying each other.
This ban was introduced in 2013 following the adoption of a new constitution. The previous constitution enacted in 1980 did not contain such a ban. The new constitution was presented to Parliament on 5 February 2013 and subsequently approved in a referendum on 16 March 2013. Parliament approved it on 9 May and President Robert Mugabe signed it into law on 22 May 2013.

## Religious performance

The Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage and does not allow its priests to officiate at such marriages. In December 2023, the Holy See published Fiducia supplicans, a declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless couples who are not considered to be married according to church teaching, including the blessing of same-sex couples. However, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference issued a statement on 22 December that "locally, many Catholics and those who look up to the Catholic Church are asking questions and wondering if the declaration marks a paradigm shift in the doctrine of the Church on marriage. While we have great appreciation of the declaration and the guidance it gives on blessings, we are also sensitive to the anxiety and confusion that has arisen. We would like to reiterate that the declaration is not about the change of the doctrine on marriage and neither is it about an approval of same sex unions in the Church. It is about blessings. In respect of the law of the land, our culture and for moral reasons we instruct pastors to desist from actions that may be deemed as the blessing of same-sex unions bringing confusion and even scandal to our people."
In 2015, the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church voted by a 64% majority to recognise same-sex marriages, bless the relationships of same-sex couples and allow gay ministers and clergy (who are not required to be celibate). The decision applies to 9 of the 10 synods; with the Namibia Synod being excluded, but it does apply to the Northern Synod, which include parts of Zimbabwe. The decision caused backlash and objections, resulting in it being reversed a year later. A dozen church members subsequently took the denomination to court to restore the 2015 decision. In 2019, the North Gauteng High Court reversed the decision, ruling that while religious organizations have the religious freedom to define marriage the 2016 decision was not made in accordance with the church's own proper process. Individual pastors are free to choose whether to bless same-sex marriages; a freedom of conscience clause allows pastors with objections to opt out of performing same-sex weddings.