Brody's Notes... U. S. Embassy Official: 'Gays Forced To Have Heterosexual Sex & Lesbians Raped'

U.S. Embassy Harare, Zimbabwe  Photo By The Associated Press

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Apr 9 | Amanda Porter, political officer for the U.S. Embassy in  the capital city of Harare, Zimbabwe, reports that Gay Zimbabweans face widespread harassment and some have even been raped by those intending to convert their sexuality. In an interview on Wednesday with Associated Press correspondent Angus Shaw, Porter said;

"Victims are afraid to speak out. Some families reportedly subjected men and women to corrective rape and forced marriages to encourage heterosexual conduct. Gay men were forced into heterosexual acts and lesbian women were raped, sometimes by male relatives, to teach them to change their ways." 

Porter told Shaw that attitudes and laws in Zimbabwe have made LGBT people feel unsafe. Many will not seek medical care, for fear of being shunned by health providers and others who were stigmatized, reported abandoning their education early and suffering higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than other groups.

President Robert Mugabe Of Zimbabwe    Getty Images

President Robert Mugabe last month vowed gay rights would not be protected in a new constitution being drawn up under a power sharing deal ahead of new elections, possibly next year. Mugabe once described homosexuals as "lower than pigs and dogs."

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

"There can be no place in the new Zimbabwe for hate speech or the persecution of any sector of the population based on race, gender, tribe, culture, sexual orientation or political affiliation," he said in debate on constitutional reform earlier this month.

Same-sex acts are illegal in Zimbabwe and while there have been no reported prosecutions related to consensual homosexuality in recent years, the offense carries a penalty of up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $5,000.