Posted by First the firm I slave for like a Zimbabwean civil servant had the audacity of winning an international award for being the gayest workplace in the world. I know I am prone to exaggerating issues just for the sake of it but you have to trust me on this one, I work for one of these international firms whose name is a global brand. Only a few weeks ago some organisation of gays involved in business somewhere in America singled it out as the safest and most accommodating firm for gays and handed it an award just like that. Some white guys in America representing the brand accepted in on behalf of the rest of us!
The powers-that-be went on to post the fact that we won that such a prestigious award on our firm’s website for every gay and straight person out there to note as if we won a Nobel Peace Prize or something. Now I do not even tell people where I work, just in case the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) got wind of it and recommended my firm as an employer of choice and I would have to deal with unemployed and destitute homosexuals looking to get with me to enhance their employment prospects.
Then just last week when I was reading Martin Meredith’s Mugabe: Power, Plunder and the Struggle for Zimbabwe it turns out he devoted significant space to Bob’s well documented and often quoted remarks on the “gay community”. According to Meredith (who happens to be white and therefore possibly gay – you know how white people get), Bob’s lashing out at men who take it up the coat whether openly or on the down low is one of the many reasons why the West will not hang out with him. You might remember back in ’95 GALZ attempted to invade the Zimbabwe International Book Fair riding on the back of the usual “human rights” excuse and Bob would have none of it. He proceeded to have the militia let loose on GALZ’s stand at the book fair and delivered a “blistering attack” (in Meredith’s own words) on gays the world over.
Bob’s reasoning being if Zimbabwe were to let GALZ have its way with us and be allowed to distribute literature on how its alright for our grown men to kiss other men then how would we have the guts to stand up against drug addicts and those prone to bestiality? People might creep out of the dark and start claiming their right to shag goats and sheep, some sick puppies just like abusing this human rights thing. Some seventy US congressmen tried to intervene on behalf of GALZ and were told to mind their own gayness. I believe there was even a call for all patriotic Zimbos to help the police “root out the evil” that is homosexuality.
As if all the above was not enough only last Sunday I woke up at the crack of noon to a Radio Zimbabwe talkshow about of all things – the growing wave of homosexuality in young Zimbabweans. Apparently the gay thing has been spreading at the same rate as poverty in Zim, I should have known, it probably explains the increasing number of young boys you see at Avondale Shopping Centre rocking tight pink, green and peach denims nodding to Lady Gaga’s music on their i-pods. I should approach one of these UN organizations to fund my research on the on the link between economic crises in Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC’s) and homosexuality, I could be onto something here you guys already know I am Zimbabwe’s leading intellectual-cum-blogger.
Calling into the radio show a lot of Zimbos stated that they were either comfortably gay or knew a gay someone but none offered credible reasons why the practice was spreading especially in the youth. Methinks it has to do with the fact that most youths are unemployed and are obviously too idle and you can only watch so many episodes of News Hour on ZTV before your mind wonders elsewhere. Some were enraged enough to call for public executions of gays and a few encouraged the nation to let them be since each man and woman had freedom to choose who they wanted to bed including the right to bed cattle and any such other animals they find attractive.
I am not worried at all if Zimbo men decide to be gay it means more women for me, but what is annoying is the news that young women are also buying into the whole gay trend as well. If a lot of women turned gay one of the last mainstays of true manliness – polygamy – could die paving way for downright gayness in the whole nation.
I almost choked on my first Shake Shake (yes I even have them on Sundays, get used to it) and spilt a considerable amount on the floor which is quite tragic considering one Shake Shake will set you back a good 60 or so cents (US cents that is). That happens to be a lot of money if you make a living working for a gay firm like me and then have to spend considerable time writing blogs about it on the internet.
But then it got me thinking, whilst Zanu PF’s position regarding the gay rights issue is on record, the MDC has not laid it out its stance on the issue at all. I am seriously worried the MDC may be gay after all. It could be one of the reasons why Gordon Brown will only hang out with Tsvangson rather than old Bob if Martin Meredith is to be taken seriously. Guseni was educated by the Americans and you know how Zimbos who have gone through the American education system tend to be “open minded” a lot! I do not mean to imply that Tsvangson and Guseni are in the closet but the load of donor money the MDC has enjoyed over the years could have been given out on the basis of them guaranteeing “gay rights” in the “new Zimbabwe”.
I was going to leave it at that but then I noticed that Thokhozani Khuphe and Evelyn Masaiti’s heads always sport hairstyles that look like Tongai Moyo’s “box cut” rather than weaves and 100% human hairpieces like normal women do. I have been to MDC rallies where Evelyn Masaiti has addressed crowds on matters of national importance in size 12 Air Jordan Nikees. It could be how the MDC wants our women to look like – like men!
Then again, how come we haven’t had at least one public sex scandal involving a straight MDC woman and a straight MDC dude? It makes me suspicious, nothing confirms the straightness of a male politician and by extension his political ideology as a scandal involving a loose woman. Look at Bill Clinton, Elliot Spitzer, John F. Kennedy, Jacob Zuma and even – His Excellency, Commander-in-chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Head of State and Government and the First Secretary of Zanu (PF) – they have put this timeless political tactic to great use!!
If MDC women can look like men and still be elected to public office who knows men might want to look like women and still be taken seriously. Some of you would say there are better and more serious issues to be talking about, but when we have a young generation that is fast turning out to be ultra-gay and a popular political party that won’t state its position on the issue, if that is not serious enough I fail to see if anything can be.
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The silence from MDC is deafening!!!
We have our answer now.
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abel are you charamba or jonathan moyo?
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I see nyaya yengochani inokubabatai maMDCstas.I am both Charamba and Moyo. Now what is the position of your party on the homosexuality issue.Why are you not prepared to come out clear to the electorate on the issue?
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There is a difference between wrong and good but the problem is that there is a thin line in between. From a christian perspective it is wrong to have same sex marriages. Pastor Hague of America who preaches on DSTV is not agreable to same sex marriages because the bible is very clear on that. Animals do not practice same sex marriages but they do sex in order to multiply. The problem with a young african mind is that anything from the West is considered worthy even if it is the worst. All the people who are reading this story are not a product of same sex marriages. So if same sex marriages are all right then it should be allright for an adult man to marry a goat. I do not support immorality.
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I think the write of the article is an american. Americans are clever, if they want to sell their tight mini- skirts to Africa they tell people that they should have freedom to wear clothes of their choice. Once people are lectured on these freedoms they (Americans) bring their mini skirt on sale. We are living in a broken world. In South Africa same sex marriages are allowed and it is a disaster. Porn films are sold in a street (those who want to argue go to Noord Street at Park Station in Johannesburg). Kids passing by see frightening graphic information daily. It is a case of too much freedom without discipline and it is tantamount to slavery. Let us not support the immorality from the West. Same sex marriages are wrong. If same sex marriages are all right why are they(homosectuals) holding world-wide demonstrations?
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Amen Dzimai moto. I could not have put it better.
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Some people are born blind, others are born madofo and even others are born like Castas Semenya. Forcing gay people to go underground is not gonna change their sexuality. There was no problem in Zimbabwe with gays (because gays, like the blind, are a minute quantity of the population) until Mugabe said wat he said to score cheap points at Tony Bliar’s gvt. Remember the time when lefties were looked down on? How about red heads in Britain, is that justified. I am not gay, but i have been accused of being gay by strangers and I can tell you that noone is gay by choice.
Having said that I see nothing to celebrate or to be proud of (GALZ) by being gay.
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The question is, where do MDC-T stand on homosexuality, they ought not to skirt around the issue by simply saying human rights to all and sundry, the specific issue here is HOMOSEXUALITY. I would like to know, where do you stand on the nyaya of gay peops, I mean I aint no gay basher, nothing like that. Asi Tsvangi must tell us what the deal is here?
Dear Simbimbino. …The issue of Homosexuality is not a Political issue. Despite the fact that President Mugabe has tried to make it so, there is no reason for ANY political party to declare their support or otherwise for GALZ. There are much more important issues to debate. You can provide that sort of opinion within the Constitutional discussions (Ed)
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Well tried Mr editor, but the MDC-T is in a knot on this one.Homosexuality is much an issue as rape issues. They are all political issues. Are you suggesting that if the labour gvt takes a position on rape or homosexuality it does not affect their politics? These MDC-T boys/girls may not like the issue of homosexuality but their tongues are tied because their funders are clear on the issue.
Your favoured party ignores such issues at their own peril Mr Editor.If I go around saying MDC-T is supported by GAYZ in Zimbabwe and the MDC does not bother to deny it then people will believe I am telling the truth which may not be the case.so they are advised to make their position clear.
Abel…You need to consider Politics and social issues as separate. They are not co-joined. People have a view on how they would like to be governed but they also have a view on what they consider social norms. Society determines what is normal based on Culture and lessons learned over it’s (The country) past. Whether president Mugabe, or you for that matter consider Homosexuality to be an aberration is not something you need to discuss when you are up to your neck in Crocodiles as we are at the moment !!. It is a subject that needs debate in wider society. That is not possible at the moment. It is neither helpful to stigmatize Gays and Lesbians by decree, or to insinuate they are sub-normal. (Editor)
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Well I wish the GALZ luck in their endeavours to penetrate the Zimbabwe market. I am sure by then a certain old man would be dead.
Abel…I think PENETRATE is an emotive issue when discussing this subject.
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you gave me a good chuckle there mr editor!!!!!!!
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Jonathan Moyo, Allum Mpofu, John Nkomo, and Sodindo Banana, were all involved in the sodomy issue and are all Zanu. The Gays associations are not affiliated to any party at all, but those who are so dumb and pretend as if things are in order in their house. The ills done by Zanu are not published or punished by the law, they are protected.
You can be a Gay or Lesibian and you are also free to be a member of any party of your choice. Zimbabweans pretend as if to be a Gay its a taboo, but to be honest, it is so widespread, and if I am right Abel, Simbimbino and the rest, they are Gays by the virtue of being Mugabe’s wives. I stand to be corrected.
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I have never heard about Jonathan Moyo being involved in gay issues. Where is the source of that information?
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@ Editor: You are definately right, homosexuality is NOT a political issue, and as you pointed out to Abel, we ought to separate political and social issues. But you miss the point my compadre, homosexuality represents an issue, being a social one, that I, as a forward thinking 21st century individual, would like to know where a party stands on the subject. For crying out loud here, it may be that we are barking up different trees here Mr Editor, but let us stay in the same forest, the electorate asked Obama and Bush where they stood on abortion, an issue that cost Bush the vote in certain states, and as the Editor you KNOW that. So why should I not expect Tsvangi & Company to tell us in thier manifesto; social or otherwise, where they stand on the issue of homosexuality. I will tell you Mr Editor where I stand; they, homosexuals, are free to their practices, and as they are citizens of the beloved country, then they are free to their practices in the country of their birth, and there shouldn’t be reprisals, marginalisation or jail sentences. The MDC-T must speak clearly, and not meander around the matter if they not only want everyones vote, but if they purport to be the all encompassing party they want us to believe.
What say you Editor?.
It is not a subject that I feel strongly about..nor I suspect do most people. So the fact that MDC-T or MDC-M or Zapu have never indicated what their position does not worry me at all. What would worry me is if any party tries to marginalise a minority group by inciting hatred against them. It is the same as Racism. (Ed)
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In all my time I spent reading your publication I have never come across a myopic, and downright bigoted piece of opinion as this one. I know Mr Editor you have an obligation to publish without fear or favour but one must distinguish the difference between opinion (one’s freedom of expression) and downright hate speech.
The MDC have no obligation under any statute to declare whether they arefor or against gays. All they have to do is state that once in power EVERY Zimbabwean cannot be discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, sex, etc. That’s what’s called HUMAN RIGHTS elsewhere but Zimbabwe. If 2 consenting adults decide to have sex who are we to judge? have you (Abel et al) taken good care of your hereosexual marriages? Worry about yours first before you worry about someone else’s. Comparing men shagging goats etc is plain stupid. Goats don’t talk and as such any person forcing themselves on a non-responsive entity is commiting a crime.
Honestly, how can sex between 2 people unrelated to you (and in the secrecy of their bedroom) affect your life? Zimbabweans we must learn to be tolerant or we will all perish being used by 86 year old fuddy-duddies like politically bankrupt Mugabe isu tichingozhinya. Why not worry about clean water, jobs, schools, etc? these are more important things vanhuwe.
Ndapedza ndini baba vaZiggy.
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@ Abel
“If someone is born attracted to small children that should not justify him abusing kids. we should draw the line, finish and klaar”
This kind of thinking only re-inforces my comment above. Use your brains for once without the bigoted blinkers you borrowed from Mugabe. A man who forces themselves on small children is commiting a crime. that’s why there is ‘age of consent’. Because kids cannot formulate good judgement. If someone has reached that age and they consent to the sex then that’s not a crime even if it’s morally repugnant.
Why do we Zimbabweans lack compassion like this? Is it in our DNA? No wonder vanaChiyangwa or Gono or Mugabe himself can build mansions with stolen money and then go brag about it without any hint of shame. They wait until someone plants their crops and then move in and steal their farm. Havana nyadzi. How can you possible be human living in such excesses (32 bedroom mansions, etc) when your next door neighbour ari kudya nhoko dzezvironda? That’s warped thinking.
Show me where it said gays must be banned? Maisakwirana boys dzega dzega kumombe? Aren’t gays mentioned in history? That means this sort of thing existed long before. saka chanetsa chii? The bible? Who wrote that book? Musaite kunge mapenzi anhonga pito. Mabhuku akanyorwa nevamwe aya were foisted upon you by colonisers and now you are singing their tune. be your own man.
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I think the editor is a fish out of water on this one.
This is a very sensitive issue as people who have a certain life style(gays) would take the issue more personal than those who feel they are maintaining certain “morals”. I think the editor is wrong to try and seperate the issues of social and political. The issue of same sex marriage is very much a political issue especially among the voting public of Zimbabwe. You can actually loose an election on this issue and in this case MDC-T risks loosing funding or votes. For them its safer to be quiet I guess. Do you think it will matter in the voting public of ZIMBABWE if their President is GAY? I say this issue is not to be separated because eventually the politicians will have the final say on this issue.
You will always get a following reagardless of weather its right or wrong. The issue is do you as a society accept this?. I dont think it is right for anyone to come and say this is the law, if you are the minority or you are not part of the community. Once people have decided these are our living standards or morals. I would think since we r in this day of “democracy”(though it may be evasive), the ballot sould decide. The people should decide who they want among them. What I mean is as african why cant we decide on our own fate. We dont tell other societies how to live so why should we be told how to live especially on issues like this.
I think the law should bind all of us as long as it is ok with the majority. if the majority passes a law saying walk on the left side of the road… thats a law live by it.
E.G If we vote or decide only naked people are to walk in 1st harare… Those who want to walk dressed do so at their own risk.
Lastly its funny how people want to use the bible either way on this issue. I think christianity is VERY VERY CLEAR on this issue but the law of this world is what we live by day to day. The law says dont sleep with goats, dont do drugs but the drug addicts are increasing daily and herdsmen are busy somewhere as we speak (lol) and the bible says dont kill but we have killers among us… dont we Mr Editor.
I might not agree with the majority rule but I will abide by the laws of the majority or try not to get caught if I want break it. So I feel for the gays in a way.
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@ Abel
Sometimes laws are put in place not to protect the majority but the voiceless minority. Such laws may be decided not by consensus or majority ballots but by the courts. Why? Because the courts can easily do the interpretation of the constitution, if we have one. Remember it used to be the norm to own slaves or discriminate against blacks because the practice favoured the majority. in that case laws have to be put in place to protect the people whose civil rights were being violated. It’s not complicated. So if the constitution says no person should be discriminated on the basis of sex or sexuality that’s it. Gays are covered. We may not agree by their lifestyle but remember it’s our diffrences that make us stronger as a nation not the things we agree on. ZANU is on the path to self distruction because they do not believe that 2 people could be best friends and still support Dynamos and CAPS. They want everybody to go by their beliefs. that is fundamentally wrong.
I feel for gays too. But if we don’t safeguard every Zimbo’s rights where do we go next? Whites, then Ndebeles, then Manyasarande, then……..where does it stop? We need tolerance and compassion.
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