Peter Tatchell told AFP that Mugabe, who died on Friday in a Singaporean hospital, had scapegoated them "to deflect attention away from the failings of his own regime".
The veteran campaigner twice tried to arrest Mugabe, who was proudly homophobic during his decades of rule, and says he was beaten unconscious by his henchmen after one second attempt in 2001.
"President Mugabe began his homophobic tirades long before I or anyone else protested against them," Tatchell said, noting that the despot was clearly influenced by a deeply conservative Catholic upbringing.