What a turn of events! At one point, Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai backed his country’s stance on gays and lesbians–that stance being that being gay is both unfit for Christians and Africans. However, according to The Huffington Post and the BBC, Tsvangirai is now in support of wanting rights for the LGBT community put in place in his country’s new constitution.

According to the sites, Tsvangirai dismissed calls for LGBT rights before, and also previously said he “totally agreed” with President Robert Mugabe’s views on the LGBT community (Mugabe said that the LGBT community were “worse than pigs and dogs”).

Tsvangirai said to BBC’s “Newsnight” that even though there is a “very strong cultural feeling” against homosexuality in Zimbabwe, he would defend the rights of the LGBT community if he became president.

“It’s a controversial subject in my part of the world,” he said. to Gavin Esler of “Newsnight”. “My attitude is that I hope the constitution will come out with freedom of sexual orientation, for as long as it does not interfere with anybody…To me, it’s a human right.”

What do you think about this article? How do you feel about Tsvangirai’s turnaround? Give your opinions in the comments section below.

Zimbabwe Prime Minister

By Monique Jones

Monique Jones blogs about race and culture in entertainment, particularly movies and television. You can read her articles at Racialicious, and her new site, COLOR . You can also listen to her new podcast, What would Monique Say.

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