A schoolteacher in Swaziland is being hounded out of her job because parents think she is a lesbian and a danger to their children. It highlights the prejudice members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community in the kingdom face in their daily lives.

The Swazi News reported on Saturday (23 March 2018) that the teacher in a school it did not name in the Shiselweni Region dressed like a man. The newspaper reported, 'Interviewed pupils confirmed that they now have to address the teacher as Mr and no longer Miss, which was the case before. 'While the pupils have come to terms with the teacher's sexual orientation, the community is having none of it and want her removed.'

The newspaper said parents complained that the teacher being a lesbian would affect their children. The parents are demanding the teacher be transferred.

LGBTI people suffer discrimination throughout Swaziland which is a deeply conservative society ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch. In June 2017 Swazi Senators threw out a motion to make a report on access to health facilities for LGBTI people because it was 'discrimination' in favour of them.

The Times of Swaziland reported at the time the debate threw the Senate into 'chaos'. It said, 'As they made their submissions, the senators turned the House into a place of laughter as they would use examples to describe how LGBTIs engaged in sexual games, which they said was wrong and put them at risk of infections.' Read more via All Africa