LGBT activists in Zimbabwe are celebrating the resignation of Robert Mugabe.

On Tuesday, Mugabe, an outspoken opponent of LGBT rights, was forced to resign as president after 37 years in control. The military placed the 93-year-old Mugabe under house arrested after he fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mugabe refused calls to step down. But on Tuesday, as the Zimbabwean Parliament began impeachment proceedings, Mugabe relented and announced his departure.

There have been widespread reports of human rights violations in Zimbabwe under Mugabe's rule.

Mugabe is also a vocal opponent of LGBT rights. Mugabe in 1995 described gay men and lesbians as “dogs and pigs.” In 2013, he threatened to “chop off” the heads of gay men who fail to reproduce.

After then-President Barack Obama lauded the Supreme Court's ruling that led to nationwide marriage equality, Mugabe sarcastically asked for Obama's hand in marriage.

“I've just concluded since President Obama endorses the same-sex marriage, advocates homosexual people and enjoys an attractive countenance thus if it becomes necessary, I shall travel to Washington DC, get down on my knee, and ask his hand,” Mugabe is quoted by Newsweek as saying during his weekly radio interview.

GALZ, an LGBT advocacy group based in Harare, said in a statement that it received the news of Mugabe's resignation with “much jubilation.”

“We are ecstatic that the face of brutality, hate and impunity has resigned,” GALZ said.

Ricky “Ricki” Nathanson of the Trans Research, Education, Advocacy and Training (TREAT) told the Washington Blade that he was relieved that Mugabe had relinquished control.

“It is with such relief and joy to hear of the resignation of the ex-president of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe,” said Nathanson. “When he took over, we thought that it would usher in a new independent country. But that independence was only experienced in certain areas and not across the board.”

“Certainly members of the LGBTI community felt the brunt of his homophobia as evidenced by his outspokenness on them,” Nathanson added. “His ‘pigs and dogs’ speech has gone down in history at his intolerance of this marginalized population.”