ZIMBABWE – President Robert Mugabe has condemned gay “filth” in Europe. The Zimbabwean leader, speaking at a recent funeral, hit out at Western powers for maintaining their asset freeze and travel ban on him and his inner circle.
“We don’t worry ourselves about the goings-on in Europe,” he told thousands at the burial of deputy intelligence chief Menard Muzariri.
“About the unnatural things happening there, where they turn man-to-man and woman-to-woman. We say, well, it’s their country. If they want to call their country British Gaydom, it’s up to them. That’s not our culture. We condemn that filth. We get alarmed when these countries have the audacity to schedule us as an item to discuss in their parliament.”
Homosexuality is illegal in the southern African country. While the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) association is allowed to operate, it suffers police harassment.
“We must unite in opposing and condemning the sanctions,” he said. “We must demonstrate that we are ready to defend our country and sacrifice our lives. The enemy will try by all means to destroy us, but if we are united, we are strong.”
Mugabe and members of his inner circle were slapped with EU and US sanctions in 2002 following disputed presidential elections.
GALZ said his statements were “nothing new” and highlighted the need for LGBT constitutional protection. The group said, “It is time for the Zimbabwean government to reflect seriously on its thinking around human rights including those of its lesbian and gay citizens and government should be implementing measures which proactively encourage a culture of meaningful human rights protection in this country.”
