Under dictator of 29 years Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe is drafting a new constitution and activists are demanding the inclusion of gay and lesbian rights.

“The purpose of a Constitution is to protect vulnerable and marginalised minorities,” the Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe, GALZ, said in a statement to The Zimbabwe Times.

While homosexuality is not illegal in Zimbabwe, sodomy is. And punishment in the past has been brutal. Mugabe has compared homosexuals to dogs and pigs and called it a ‘white man’s disease.’ While frequency of homosexual arrests has declined, it appears the government’s stance on homosexuality is contradictory. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act of 2002 protects the sexual orientation of citizens, but many wonder if this isn’t a selectively applied law to protect those high up in government.

“And homosexuals do not choose to be homosexual just as heterosexuals do not choose to be heterosexual. Choosing to be gay or lesbian in Zimbabwe would be lunacy given the levels of disapproval shown by many elements of society,” read the statement GALZ.

Australian-born human rights activist Peter Tatchell has twice tried to make a citizen’s arrest of President Mugabe for human rights abuses.

The arrest of ex-Zimbabwe president Canaan Banana for sodomy in 1998 “went a long way to convince people that being gay is not a white-imported thing,” Keith Goddard of GALZ told The Zimbabwe Times.

The gay rights group also believe the repression of homosexuality in the country will only lead to more men contracting HIV due to fear of exposure, and denial of their sexuality.