Report: Gay Men Raped and Forced Into Heterosexual Sex in Zimbabwe

The situation for gay men and lesbians is bleak in the nation of Zimbabwe. Gays face widespread harassment, violence, rape and gay men have been forced to perform heterosexual sex, the United States State Department finds in its annual human rights report in Zimbabwe.

The reports comes the same week the southern African nation begins drafting its new constitution. President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai rejected calls to include gay rights.

"Gay men were forced into heterosexual acts and lesbian women were raped, sometimes by male relatives, to teach them to change their ways, said Amanda Porter, political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Harare and compiler of the report. 'Some families reportedly subjected men and women to corrective rape and forced marriages to encourage heterosexual conduct' she said Tuesday. Homosexuals reported widespread discrimination in 2009, the year under review. But the report notes that the conservative southern African country has long frowned on homosexuality. Hate speech by politicians against the nation's small gay community fueled social pressures on families, Porter said. And crimes against human rights and sexual abuse against gays were rarely reported to police. 'Victims are afraid to speak out,' she said.

Mugabe—who infamously described gays as "worse than dogs and pigs"—recently enacted tougher anti-sodomy legislation and a statute that makes simple touching between men a criminal offense. The offense carries a penalty of up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $5,000. There have been no reported prosecutions related to consensual homosexuality in recent years but several gay activists have fled the nation claiming harassment by Mugabe's secret police.

Prime Tsvangirai said he personally shared an abhorrence of homosexuality, but called for tolerance toward all minority groups.

The annual U.S. rights review of Zimbabwe gives "greater emphasis to gay rights than in previous years" reflecting the Obama Administration's concerns on homophobia and human rights.

Some Background ...
Mugabe's 10,000 Acre Farm
Mugabe Throws Lavish Party
Gay Activists in Zimbabwe Report "Shift"
Counterfeit AIDS Medications Flood Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Cites U.S, Enacts Sweeping Surveillance
Zimbabwe Hunting Gay Activist
Gay Bashing in Zimbabwe Parliament
Zimbabwe: Good News and Bad
Zimbabweans Come Out Slowly
Zimbabwe Anchor Comes Out
Zimbabwe Gay Asylum Plea

Comments

[Osiris]

That's terrible.

[Mr. FAMU]

Christianity and it's poison continues destroy the world.

END PATRIARCHY NOW!

[Cocoa Rican]

The ignorance of it all...

[Stuffed Animal]

Corrective rape? This Mugabe is a monster. We need to be talking about him the way they talked about Hitler. I can't imagine anything worse than being an LGBT person living on the African continent or in the Caribbean.

[Kevin Perez]

I agree with you but I sure hell don't want to be in Russia or Eastern Europe and the Middle East either!

[Faison]

The news on African LGBTs doesn't seem to be getting any better, does it? Not even in South Africa which has same sex marriage and (supposedly) universal gay rights.

[John Ozed]

Mugabe is the scum bag that NYC Council member Charles Barron embraced as a good and honest man just a year or so ago.

[Renee]

The man is evil and failed with bigotry and hatred but comparing him to Hitler diminishes the Holocaust. Not every incident rises to that level and people need to stop throwing it around because it cheapens the lives of the over 6 million that died in the camps and the millions that died defeating Hitler.