HOMOSEXUALS in Zimbabwe on Sunday called for the legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the country. They are seeking the inclusion of a clause on sexual orientation in the country’s new constitution, currently being drafted under a controversial constitutional review process. Representatives of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) made the appeal to a special session of a commission appointed by President Robert Mugabe to draft a new constitution to replace the British-authored one adopted at independence in 1980. Homosexuality is a particularly controversial subject in Zimbabwe because President Mugabe has frequently attacked gays as “beasts,” “perverts” and “worse than dogs and pigs”, saying homosexuality is un-African.
24