Robert Mugabe turns 90 with anti-gay rant
‘We don't accept homosexuality here. God made men and women so they can bear children'
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has celebrated his 90th birthday with an anti-gay rant.
Speaking to thousands of people at a Marondera soccer stadium, he reaffirmed his views on homosexuality.
‘We don't accept homosexuality here. God made men and women so they can bear children,’ Mugabe said, as part of his hour-long speech.
It was part of a giant extravagant birthday party, with 90 cows butchered and a 90kg cake served.
It comes amid intense speculation about Zimbabwe’s future as his grip on power lessens.
‘I feel as youthful and energetic as a boy of nine,’ he said, claiming to be as ‘fit as a fiddle’.
Mugabe has ruled the nation for 33 years, and won a controversial election for another five year term last July.
In the past, Mugabe has promised to amend Zimbabwe laws so LGBT ‘offenders’ would ‘rot in jail’ for life.
Claiming ‘filthy gays destroy nations’, he has also threatened to cut gay people’s heads off, castrate them and compared them to ‘pigs and dogs’.
Speaking to Gay Star News, gay rights activists in Zimbabwe have said Mugabe’s rants lead to increase in violence against the LGBTI community.
‘He thrives on the politics of intolerance,’ a Harare activist who prefers to remain anonymous said.
‘By singling out a small group such as LGBT and declaring their rights as “filthy” makes LGBT people a target of hatred and violence.’
Another added: ‘He has created an environment where people are not interested to learn about LGBT issues but about the eradication of the practice of homosexuality.
‘This is evident in laws such as sodomy law, and recently the constitution. Although the focus is on marriages, we have seen the repercussions of such laws on the lives of LGBT people.’
Speaking to thousands of people at a Marondera soccer stadium, he reaffirmed his views on homosexuality.
‘We don't accept homosexuality here. God made men and women so they can bear children,’ Mugabe said, as part of his hour-long speech.
It was part of a giant extravagant birthday party, with 90 cows butchered and a 90kg cake served.
It comes amid intense speculation about Zimbabwe’s future as his grip on power lessens.
‘I feel as youthful and energetic as a boy of nine,’ he said, claiming to be as ‘fit as a fiddle’.
Mugabe has ruled the nation for 33 years, and won a controversial election for another five year term last July.
In the past, Mugabe has promised to amend Zimbabwe laws so LGBT ‘offenders’ would ‘rot in jail’ for life.
Claiming ‘filthy gays destroy nations’, he has also threatened to cut gay people’s heads off, castrate them and compared them to ‘pigs and dogs’.
Speaking to Gay Star News, gay rights activists in Zimbabwe have said Mugabe’s rants lead to increase in violence against the LGBTI community.
‘He thrives on the politics of intolerance,’ a Harare activist who prefers to remain anonymous said.
‘By singling out a small group such as LGBT and declaring their rights as “filthy” makes LGBT people a target of hatred and violence.’
Another added: ‘He has created an environment where people are not interested to learn about LGBT issues but about the eradication of the practice of homosexuality.
‘This is evident in laws such as sodomy law, and recently the constitution. Although the focus is on marriages, we have seen the repercussions of such laws on the lives of LGBT people.’
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