A Gay Welcome For Mugabe In S. Africa

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe arrived in South Africa on Saturday to jeers and catcalls from hundreds of gay protesters angry over his recent condemnations of homosexuality.

Mugabe, arriving for Monday’s summit of the Southern African Development Community, brushed past reporters as he disembarked and ignored shouted questions on the protests. He slipped out a rear exit and sped away in a limousine, taking a back road to avoid the demonstrators who had waited for two hours along the main airport road.

“It’s a victory that he ran out the back door,” declared Peter John du Toit, a 28-year-old businessman taking part in the demonstration. “He couldn’t face us.”

Gay activists here said they felt compelled to speak out on behalf of homosexuals in neighboring Zimbabwe, who do not have the same legal protections and access to the media.

Mugabe raised hackles among human-rights advocates when he banned a display by the Gay and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe at the country’s annual book fair, one of Africa’s largest.

In several speeches since then, the 71-year-old president has turned up his anti-gay rhetoric, dismissing homosexuals as “perverts and sodomists” and homosexuality as intrinsically “un-African.”

Phumi Mtetwa, a 22-year-old student and leader of the Gay and Lesbian Organization of the Witwatersrand, said Mugabe’s arrival could have a salutary effect on Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since its black majority won control of the country in 1980, changing its name from Rhodesia.

“He must come to this country and learn from the human rights culture here,” she said.

Zimbabwe has no effective opposition and in recent years Mugabe’s rule has become increasingly autocratic.

In contrast to their hostility to Mugabe, the demonstrators repeatedly voiced approval for South African President Nelson Mandela, whose African National Congress insisted on including a gay-rights clause in the country’s post-apartheid constitution.

South Africa is the only country in the world whose basic law expressly forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation.