We are very much in the Dark Ages here. Extortion Attempts Members of GALZ also report a spate of extortion attempts, with both strangers and casual acquaintances threatening to report sodomy charges to the police if they are not paid to keep silent. Sodomy is illegal and can carry a penalty of two years in prison. Goddard says he never shared an intimate relationship with his accuser, Siphephile Vuma, who has been charged with extortion. Vuma alleges that Goddard sodomized him three times at gunpoint.
People are desperately frightened.
They are now worried even about their sexuality becoming known. The growing public intolerance has led to disagreements within GALZ, with many members unhappy about its high political profile. Except in neighboring South Africa, where mostly white homosexuals are visible and well-organized, there is little precedent in Africa for the gay activism in Zimbabwe. Machida, now 28, who heads the organization in Harare, the capital, says she supports its activism but understands the reticence. GALZ denied the report, but her landlord has told Machida to find new quarters.