Subject: Demo at Zimb. Emb

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 95 22:18:48 -0400 Eastern

Greetings, fellow freedom fighters!

I have attached a press release for your information.

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NEWS ADVISORY  

Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington
Box 75265
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE 
Washington, DC  20013
202/667-5139

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   August 15, 1995
CONTACT:  Rick Rosendall  (202) 328-6278

           AIUSA/GLAA TO HOST ZIMBABWE EMBASSY PROTEST
         Mugabe's Homophobic Remarks Have Sparked Outrage

     Washington, DC -- The Dupont Circle Chapter of Amnesty
International USA and the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of
Washington (GLAA) will host a protest in front of the Embassy of
Zimbabwe on Thursday, August 17, 1995 at 6:00 PM.  Recent
statements by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe which have urged
the arrest and detention of gays and lesbians and labeled
homosexuals as "worse than dogs and pigs" have sparked
international outrage and the withdrawal of many South African
publishers and African authors from the international book fair at
which similar comments were first made.

     The Zimbabwe Embassy is located at 1608 New Hampshire Avenue,
NW, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.  The closest cross streets
are 18th and Q Streets, NW, two blocks from the Dupont Circle stop
on Metro's Red Line.  Local activists from Amnesty International,
GLAA, and other organizations will participate.  A statement from
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) will be read during the
protest.

     In a speech opening the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in
early August, Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe publicly attacked gays and lesbians, labeling them
"sodomists" and "sexual perverts" who do not deserve to freely
exercise their right to free speech.  More recently, President
Mugabe has renewed his attacks on gays and lesbians by saying that
homosexuality "degrades human dignity" and "it's unnatural and
there is no question of ever allowing these people to behave worse
than dogs and pigs."

     After Mugabe's government intimidated the book fair's
organizers into barring GALZ from participating, many South
African publishers withdrew from the book fair in protest, citing
the provision in their own nation's 1993 constitution which
explicitly forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. 
Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka of Nigeria and Nadine Gordimer of
South Africa condemned the Zimbabwe government's actions and also
withdrew from participation in the fair, whose theme this year was
human rights.

     Amnesty International and other leading global human rights
organizations have issued statements condemning the Zimbabwe
government's actions.  On August 3, 1995, Rep. Barney Frank, Rep.
Maxine Waters and 70 other bipartisan Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives sent a letter to President Mugabe urging him "to
re-examine this issue and to follow the example of the new
government of South Africa in respecting the human rights of all
people."

     The Dupont Circle Chapter of Amnesty International USA was
formed in the early 1980s.  Since that time, it has hosted monthly
meetings in Dupont Circle and sponsored many local fundraisers and
public events to raise awareness of human rights violations both
at home and abroad.  Founded in 1961, Amnesty International (AI)
is the largest human rights organization in the world.  AI was the
recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

     The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, founded
in Washington, DC in 1971, is the oldest gay and lesbian activist
organization in the United States.  It meets twice monthly in the
Dupont Circle area and has hosted countless vigils, protests, and
local actions, as well as rating District candidates on
gay-related issues and defending the equal rights of gay men and
lesbians by monitoring the legislative process and the delivery of
city services.  GLAA played a key role in overturning the District
of Columbia's sodomy law in 1993.

                              # # #

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