Re: [Marxism] Mugabe speaks out on gays

[Gregory Meyerson <gmeyerson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

makes you think about what "self determination" (a contentless term) 
really means: where the logic of national self determination here  
means purging gay people.



On Apr 9, 2007, at 11:02 AM, Louis Proyect wrote:

> LONDON -- Zimbabwe's beleaguered president, Robert Mugabe, has  
> mounted a new attack on the British government, accusing it of  
> spreading homosexual values around the world.
>
> His outburst was the latest in a series of homophobic jibes at Tony  
> Blair's administration, which is being vilified by an increasingly  
> paranoid regime in the run-up to elections next month that it is  
> forecast to lose. While not wishing to trade blows with the 76-year- 
> old Marxist, the British government has admitted it is concerned  
> for the safety of whites remaining in Zimbabwe.
>
> ''The British government is seeking to promote homosexuality,'' Mr.  
> Mugabe stormed before a gathering of tribal chiefs last week. He  
> promised that Africa in general, and Zimbabwe in particular, would  
> combat this.
>
> ''We as chiefs should fight against such western practices and  
> respect our culture,'' he said. ''British homosexuals are worse  
> than dogs and pigs because they do not differentiate between males  
> and females.''
>
> The Ottawa Citizen, March 19, 2000
>
> ===
>
> President Robert Mugabe delivered a stinging attack on homosexuals  
> today at a book fair embroiled in controversy by the Government's  
> ban of a gay-rights exhibit.
>
> Mr. Mugabe, officially opening the five-day event aimed at  
> promoting human rights, called homosexuality a repugnant offense  
> against nature by "sodomists and sexual perverts."
>
> The speech came after four organizers -- three today and one  
> earlier -- pulled out of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair to  
> protest the Government's ban on a display by the Gay and Lesbian  
> Association of Zimbabwe. The fair has drawn exhibiters from 120  
> countries.
>
> Mr. Mugabe said he was "extremely outraged" that homosexual rights  
> advocates live in Zimbabwe.
>
> If the nation accepts homosexuality as a right, Mr. Mugabe asked,  
> "what moral fiber shall our society ever have to deny organized  
> drug addicts or even those given to bestiality the rights they  
> might claim under the rubrics of individual freedom and human rights?"
>
> Some members of the crowd of a few hundred walked out. But Mr.  
> Mugabe denied that his stance might force the fair, one of Africa's  
> largest, to move to South Africa in future years.
>
> "Is the book fair based on sodomy?" he asked. "I don't believe they  
> have any rights at all. I hope the time never comes when we want to  
> reverse nature and men bear children."
>
> [The Publishers' Association of South Africa said in a statement  
> that it had suspended talks with its counterpart in Zimbabwe about  
> organizing a joint southern Africa book fair and was recommending  
> that its members reconsider future participation in the Zimbabwe  
> fair, Reuters reported.
>
> [The South African Constitution guarantees the right of the  
> individual to freedom of choice in sexual orientation.]
>
> The vacant protest stand set up by the Gays and Lesbians of  
> Zimbabwe was festooned with flowers, but aides steered Mr. Mugabe  
> away from it when he toured exhibits. An advance security detail  
> ordered that a poster supporting the gay activists be taken down.
>
> Last week, the Government threatened to withdraw its financial  
> backing for the book fair if homosexual literature was displayed.
>
> Officials in Zimbabwe argue that homosexuality is foreign to  
> African tradition and support laws making it an offense.
>
> The New York Times, August 2, 1995
>
> --
>
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>
>
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