ZIM MINISTER REJECTS GAY RIGHTS

A senior Zimbabwe minister has said that his party will push to outlaw homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia in the country’s new constitution, reports Radio VOP.

“As a party, we now have our positions for inclusion in the new constitution and we hope these will be captured accurately,” said Didymus Mutasa, Minister of Presidential Affairs and a leading player in homophobic President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party.

“Practices such as homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia which offend human and public morality should be outlawed,” he added.

Speaking at a Zanu (PF) function, he expressed surprise “that some Christian organisations are advocating for gay rights to be included in the constitution, yet we know that gay marriages are even forbidden in the Bible.”

Mutasa said that the constitution should include stiff penalties for those found guilty of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is already illegal in Zimbabwe with penalties including jail-time. The government has been accused of harassing the LGBT community and the country’s only LGBT rights organisation’s offices were recently raided and two employees arrested.

There had been hopes that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai would support the inclusion of LGBT protection in the country’s new constitution, but these were dashed in March when Tsvangirai said that he supported Mugabe’s anti-gay stance.