Antigay Rhetoric on the Rise in Zimbabwe

Supporters of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, who once called gay people "worse than pigs and dogs," are ratcheting up their antigay rhetoric as lawmakers consider a new constitution and the country's 2012 elections near.

Via Global Post:

As Zimbabweans draw up a new constitution, Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has decided to play its leader's vitriolic views center stage.

Surprisingly what has sparked the latest round was a statement by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, that gays should have the same rights as other minorities in the new Zimbabwean constitution currently being framed by representatives of the three main parties. ...

This was of course a gift to Mugabe and his spokesmen.

"You can keep your gay England," they pronounced. "We will keep our Zimbabwe."

The New York Times and The Guardian have reported Mugabe may be diverting wealth from Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields to pay for a violent campaign against political opponents.