Yesterday, 25 November, was Madalitso* Zulu’s 36th birthday and his third one behind bars at a Zambian Prison. Madalitso, a health professional, did nothing wrong, but is locked up. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence with hard labour simply because he identifies as gay in a country that wants to dictate his identity. Madalitso was born in 1988. He studied medicine and graduated in 2014, and earned a Masters in Business Administration in 2015. He received a fellowship to help advance sexual and reproductive health rights. Madalitso contributed immensely to healthcare in Zambia, during the Covid 19 pandemic when the profession carried much risk. He is well travelled and multilingual, fluent in French and most the local languages in Zambia.