AFRICA : Zimbabwe Leader Turns Hatred on Gays : Voters may be receptive to the oppressive vitriol of outspoken President Mugabe, insiders say.

President Robert Mugabe, the stern autocrat who has ruled Zimbabwe as a virtual one-party state since independence in 1980, has never been one to mince words. Over the years he has raged against whites, Jews, stockbrokers and academics.

Now he has vehemently attacked the country’s long-repressed community of homosexuals--as well as a group of U.S. members of Congress--worrying human rights groups here and sparking outrage abroad.

Mugabe’s anti-gay crusade began at Africa’s largest international book fair here earlier this month--which, ironically, had human rights as its theme. The fair’s organizers, facing strong pressure from Mugabe’s aides, barred a group called Gays And Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) from operating a stand where they could hand out pamphlets about gay rights and counseling.

Mugabe then officially opened the gathering with a scathing speech that denounced gays as “sodomists and sexual perverts” who have no legal rights. He lashed out again the next week, saying that gays are “worse than dogs and pigs.”

When a group of 70 U.S. lawmakers, led by Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is openly gay, faxed a letter in protest, Mugabe responded with vitriol.

“Let the Americans keep their sodomy, bestiality, stupid and foolish ways to themselves, out of Zimbabwe,” Mugabe told a group of cheering supporters. “We don’t want those practices here.”

The U.S. Embassy here declined comment. But diplomats are aghast. Mugabe portrays himself as a global statesman and peacemaker, and he is a frequent fixture at international conclaves. He was feted at the White House on a state visit in May and flew to Nigeria this week in an unsuccessful attempt to ease human rights abuses there.

“Obviously, everybody is outraged,” one diplomat said. “But he’s getting political mileage at home. It’s a cultural thing here.”

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Homosexuality is not illegal here, although sodomy is. There have been no reports of arrests or violence against gays since Mugabe began his attacks. In the past, police have raided GALZ offices in a search for pornography, and have disrupted gay parties and clubs.

Many here say Mugabe simply expressed his beliefs. But Mugabe is an astute politician who faces a reelection campaign next year. And his bigotry, however offensive to liberal Western values, appears to have won widespread support. Newspapers have printed scores of letters denouncing gays as morally repugnant.

“It’s created a very oppressive atmosphere,” warned Ozias Tungwarara, executive director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Assn. “But the head of state is riding a popular wave based on the attitude of the majority of people towards homosexuals.”

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Mugabe--and, indeed, many Zimbabweans--claim that homosexuality was introduced by whites during the British colonial era and is not part of the traditional conservative culture in this southern African nation of 11 million.

As in most of Africa, sex education is unknown, and discussion of sexual practices is largely taboo. Although acquired immune deficiency syndrome is epidemic, AIDS is not a factor in the widespread homophobia, because the disease has spread most fiercely among heterosexuals.

Members of GALZ and their supporters say homosexuality is common here but concealed--often brutally so.

Lynde Francis, a GALZ spokeswoman who provides counseling for gays, said several of her patients have been beaten by police, raped or forced into marriages. Some have even been put in psychiatric hospitals, she said.

One man, she said, was “beaten senseless” by his brothers when they discovered he is homosexual. After that, she said, “his family had a funeral. As far as they’re concerned, he’s dead.”