LGBT employees in 72 UN-member countries are protected from discrimination in employment, but in another 72 countries, LGBT employees can still be arrested just for being who they are. Every June, the LGBT community celebrates Pride Month because of the historic Stonewall riots of the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Fifty years have passed and while there are certain improvements in workplace equality, the LGBT community still has a long way to go in the fight for equal rights. Given the paradox of progress and backlash, it’s important to discuss the role of business leaders and companies in advancing LGBT equality around the world.

Workplace Equality and Its Effects on Individuals

According to the 2019 Workplace Equality Fact Sheet, 46% of LGBT workers reported being closeted at work for fear of backlash against them. If they feel that they need to hide their identity, then it will cause stress and anxiety that could affect their performance in the workplace.  LGBT individuals will live in constant fear of being discovered. They can’t even make their work stations feel like home because they can’t put photos of their loved ones or they have to be careful when telling stories so that they won’t be outed.

Organizations that strive for workplace equality will see the positive effects on individual employees such as less discrimination among employees and improved comfort knowing that they can be themselves at work. LGBT-supportive policies can reduce the stress of LGBT employees as well as improve their health, especially if they are given medical and retirement benefits. As a result, they are more satisfied with their job and have more positive relationships with their co-workers and managers. 

Inclusive Workplaces and Effects on Companies

With individual benefits, organizational performance will also improve. Employers with LGBT-friendly workplaces have lower expenses when it comes to health insurance because of the improved health of their employees. Employees who are out in the workplace feel that they are welcomed by their co-workers and boss.  When employees are comfortable and feel welcomed, they will contribute better to the organization. In this environment, LGBT employees are more engaged and more productive that leads to better company performance.

There are some companies that promote internal policies that prohibit discrimination due to the employees’ gender identity or sexual orientation.  In countries that have laws prohibiting LGBT equality, the companies are burdened with the problem of attracting and retaining employees in their companies.  Problems might arise about how can two employees be really equal if one is criminalized outside the company. However, companies have seen that workplace inclusion is beneficial to them and works for everyone.

Companies should espouse LGBT-friendly policies so that they get the best person for the job. If companies demonstrate genuine support for their LGBT employees, it will have a huge impact on their employees, their business, and the whole LGBT community.  It’s great that there are some companies that can be described as fully inclusive to all individuals regardless of their gender or sexual orientation- but there are thousands more to go.

A recent study found that 75% of those who underwent transgender surgery had a better quality of life after the operation. However, as the recent onslaught on the LGBT community by the Tanzanian government makes life difficult for this community, it becomes increasingly challenging to collect data on the happiness levels of trans individuals in the country. Despite these challenges, we must still address the inner turmoils that affect the trans community, especially in a system that doesn’t value or accept them. Outside the external problems they face are the internal struggles of dysphoria, identity, family acceptance, self-esteem, and the difficult question of surgery and whether it is even an option.

Gender Confirmation Surgery

It is estimated that gender confirmation surgery happens in about 1000 people worldwide every year. Just last year, South Africa performed one of its rare gender confirmation surgeries on Thando Thengwa. Although the number of hospitals that offer this service is still quite few, the number is steadily rising as demand for the procedure continues to grow. This steady acceptance of the procedure holds hope for the future, not just for South Africans, but also for Tanzanians. It sets the necessary precedence for greater acceptance in the future. It also offers Tanzanians an opportunity to get the surgery within the continent. Though there are still a number of daunting challenges that come with the procedure, especially for Tanzanians, if you are ready to do it, the important question to ask is whether you can finance it while still guarding your financial security. Keep in mind that you may find it difficult, if not impossible, to have the surgery performed in Tanzania. This will also factor into the calculations for those considering the surgery.

A Little Accounting

Before you start saving for the surgery, it’s important to understand how much money you will ultimately need to set aside for the entire process. Sex change surgery is many things, but it is not cheap. To start, you will need hormone replacement therapy, which will cost you upwards of $7000 a year until the actual surgery, and you may still need to continue even after the operation. Beyond this, it will run to $120,000 to $140,000 for a full transition. This will cover everything from the hospital stay to travel expenses and the post-surgery medication. This is the cost of a basic change, but it will cost more for additional procedures such as breast augmentation, a hysterectomy or facial feminization.

The Verdict

The numbers speak for themselves, but what does that mean? It simply means that the financial burden of a gender confirmation surgery is high, but not impossible. You have a higher chance of being significantly happier after changing your outer body to reflect who you are on the inside. If the numbers are not sufficient, there are testimonies of people who went through it describing how it changed their lives. All the data is there: ultimately it remains an individual choice. 

Gender confirmation surgery may not be popular or even possible in Tanzania. But as in all beginnings, it only takes one person brave enough to change this.

This article was prepared by Jacklyn Wentworth

Tanzania, where The Advocates has partnered recently with LGBTI human rights organizations, provides a good example of the problem. Due to widespread discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBT individuals in Tanzania fear disclosing their sexual orientation to health care providers.  Further, health care providers often refuse needed services to LGBT individuals. In its Third National Multi-Sectoral Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS (NMSF III), the Government of Tanzania recognized the barrier that anti-LGBT discrimination can pose to health care access: “Stigma and discrimination against MSM [men who have sex with men] remains high, posing a significant challenge to outreach and delivery of friendly health services.”[1] Indeed, some non-governmental organizations estimate that over 2 million LGBT Tanzanians lack access to quality health services.

James Wandera Ouma
Executive Director
LGBT Voice Tanzania

LGBT Voice Tanzania urges the Tanzanian Government to withdraw the proposed anti-LGBTI  bill (The Bill to Prohibit and Control any form of Sexual Relations between Persons of the Same Sex, 2014’) from the parliament immediately  and amend Sections 154 to 157 of the Penal Code of Tanzania that makes homosexual acts between men an illegal offense punishable with a maximum of thirty years’ imprisonment (1993, 332), it is a violation of human rights.

The significant limitations in Tanzania’s protection of human rights are the non-compliance with its international human rights obligations and the absence of protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and inability of same-sex couples to marry.

Tanzania must be held accountable for failing to recognize marriage equality rights for all couples regardless of their sex, sexuality or gender identity.” The Government should act immediately and amend the Marriage Act to ensure all people can marry because Marriage is a civil institution, governed by secular laws.

There must be specific anti-discrimination laws to protect people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Tanzanian Government makes commitments that will ensure the existence of anti-discrimination law to benefit all Tanzanians.

We also call for further reforms to ensure the legal recognition of children living in same-sex families, because under international law, children are to be afforded legal recognition and protection, regardless of their family structure. As such, all adoption and surrogacy laws should not be permitted to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

LGBT Voice Tanzania strongly encourages bipartisan support for the implementation of the recommendations to ensure effective human rights protection for all sex, sexuality and gender diverse people in Tanzania.

May God Bless  Tanzania

By James Wandera Ouma

For 41-year old James Wandera Ouma, LGBT activism has become his life’s work. As the executive director of LGBT Voice Tanzania , Ouma works to advance equality, diversity, education and justice for LGBT people in Tanzania.

Recently, Ouma was in attendance at the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association’s ( OPALGA ) annual awards gala at the invitation of two of the organization’s founders, Mel Wilson and Nathan Linsk. Wilson and Linsk met Ouma when they traveled to Tanzania two years ago and last year they wrote a viewpoint article for this publication about Ouma and his organization. Ouma also attended the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association ( ILGA ) World Conference in Mexico City, Mexico following his visit to the Chicago area.

“Tanzania is a country where human rights are not respected. LGBT people need to be recognized and respected as human beings and Tanzania doesn’t recognize us as human beings,” said Ouma. “We have a law that allows for a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison to life imprisonment for males who are accused and convicted of homosexual activity.”

Ouma, who is openly gay, said that he’s been arrested nine times for LGBT activism. The biggest problem, Ouma noted, are police officers who arrest people and leave them in jail for weeks or months without a trial.

“I just got released from police custody after spending four days in jail. They charged me this time with trying to recruit young people,” said Ouma. “Recently we started a safe house for young people who’ve been thrown out of their homes. Our goal is to provide food and shelter for these young people. We also encourage them to continue their education so they will have a better future. When the authorities learned about this project they immediately came to me and accused me of training the young people at the shelter to become homosexuals. That was my only charge.”

Ouma noted that the Tanzanian government has accused the west of importing LGBT people and ideas into the country as well as giving his organization money to recruit people into homosexuality and that isn’t true. The fact is, Ouma explained, the west is importing religion into Tanzania not LGBT people and ideas.

“I was born in a remote village without any roads and I didn’t have a car, motorbike or bicycle. I knew I was gay when I was young and at that time I had no contact with the outside world,” said Ouma. “The life I lived didn’t allow me to know anything because we didn’t have telephones, radios or the Internet in my remote village. The question is how could I know anything about western culture if I didn’t have access to any information about the outside world growing up.”

Ouma said that it’s not just the government that teaches hate, religious leaders in Tanzania also teach hate towards LGBT people. “I believe they [the government and religious leaders] are afraid,” said Ouma.

One of the initiatives that Ouma’s organization is working on is conducting a study to document human rights violations that are taking place based on a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. “We want people to share what is happening in their homes, work places, health facilities and public places. We want to talk to employers and find out why they don’t want to hire LGBT people and we want to hear from parents who have LGBT kids,” said Ouma. “We will be compiling a report that can be used as a tool and will be submitted to the members of parliament so they have first hand information about what is happening to LGBT people throughout Tanzania.”

“We want to see Tanzania be a country where people are free to express themselves,” said Ouma. “We want our country to be a place where people aren’t sacrificing their lives because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Where people won’t go to prison, get thrown out of their families, get expelled from school or lose their jobs just because they are LGBT. We want to reach a place where we can celebrate our lives. Even if we don’t see equality in Tanzania today, the foundation has been laid for that to happen in the future.”

Ouma explained that it is important for the international community to speak out about what is happening to LGBT people in Tanzania as well as put pressure on the Tanzania government so LGBT people in his country can be free and have the same rights as other Tanzanians.

As for funding, Ouma noted that LGBT Voice Tanzania doesn’t have an institutional funder so all of their funds come from individual donors who make donations online. “Our organization needs money so we can continue running our programs. We want to start a clinic where LGBT young people can access healthcare and we already have the building but we need money and technical support so we can open the clinic,” said Ouma. Ouma noted that OPALGA has already donated $500 to the clinic project.

By Carrie Maxwell, Windy City Times

Pictured right: Mohamed Mbata, Deputy Director of LGBT Voice Tanzania 

This past November, I sent my associate Chris Westling to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to meet with LGBT activists and discuss the lack of progress in the area of human rights as related to LGBT issues. Currently, it is a crime punishable by imprisonment to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender in Tanzania. This year, the business magazine International Business Times ranked LGBT rights in the country among the fifth worst on the continent behind Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, and Senegal. While some of the countries on this list are less widely known for their human rights offenses as related to the LGBT community in Africa, Uganda and its attempts to make being LGBT punishable by death is no surprise, and probably the most notorious of the lot. As sub-Saharan Africa becomes more of an economic force in the world I wanted to start looking into specific countries on the continent where human rights violations are either overlooked or just not in our collective consciousness – ones where this type of environment allows and even condones violence against LGBT youth. It’s imperative that we all know more.

Once in Tanzania, Chris met with Mohamed Mbata and James Wandera Ouma – two men who work together at LGBT Voice Tanzania. As it stands now, the penalty for gay relationships in this East African country is life in prison. But this is not the top worry of Mohamed Mbata, the openly gay deputy director of LGBT Voice. His primary concern is violence toward gay youth in a climate where assailants can act with impunity.

As a young gay man, Mbata experienced violence as a direct result of his sexuality. Once, he said, “in Dar es Salaam, I was beat up on the street by a man who had identified me for my work on LGBT rights. Stories like this happen every day. I came out as gay at 25 years old and my family was shocked,” Mbata said. “My father hated me. They’re fine now, as long as I stay far away from them.”

Mbata’s organization, based in Dar Es Salaam – Tanzania’s largest city – gives three months of entrepreneurship training to the gay youth living on the streets. The training helps vulnerable youth establish micro-businesses to help them become more self-sufficient. Mbata is cautiously optimistic and says modestly, “We are making progress little by little.” This truly is a good way to help the youth establish roots in their community, but it is only a first step and coastal East Africa needs more programs like this for change to take place on a larger scale.

The international community continues to condemn Tanzania for the open persecution of LGBT people. In a 2011 report by the U.S. State Department it was found that not only do LGBT persons in Tanzania face arbitrary arrest and violence, they also experience restricted access to health care, housing, and employment. The consequences of these actions are devastating. “Due to discrimination, many people in the LGBT community face high unemployment. They are not able to contribute to the economic growth of Tanzania,” said James Wandera Ouma, the director of LGBT Voice. It has been proven time and time again that a lack of safe healthcare services can increase HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men (MSMs).

Ouma says that “while Tanzania is a recipient of PEPFAR funding [a US initiative started by former President George W. Bush to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa], the country cannot reach the initiative’s goals because many in the LGBT community are not reached by the services. The government must prioritize programs targeting the LGBT community for the prevention, support, treatment for the disease.”

The response to this underserved community has been met by a host of international actors. Among them is Dr. Robert Gallo’s Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. IHV, through the leadership of Dr. Robert Redfield, has provided HIV care and training assistance to 25 facilities in the country. This vital care is proven to help reduce the amount of HIV virus in a person’s system, which can in turn reduce HIV infection rates. IHV’s team is always mindful of local environments and takes pains when delivering care to ensure a safe setting that avoids subjecting the patients to public scrutiny.

Joep Lange, the leading HIV researcher and president of the International AIDS Society (IAS), who tragically died in Malaysia Airlines flight 17 last summer, took a strong interest in Tanzania. Beginning in 1995, his team set out to dramatically improve the situation for those living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania. International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) reports, “some 500,000 Tanzanians are now on HIV treatment. The trial Lange sent [his team] to Tanzania for was the Petra Study, part of the landmark research showing that HIV drugs could reduce the risk of breastfeeding mothers transmitting the virus to their babies.” However, despite all of this progress, the LGBT community still faces significant barriers.

In 2011, at a meeting of Commonwealth countries, UK Prime Minister David Cameron warned that his country could start withholding aid to countries that criminalize same-sex relations. In response, Tanzanian foreign minister Bernard Membe exclaimed that, “homosexuality is not part of our culture and we will never legalize it. We are not ready to allow any rich nation to give us aid based on unacceptable conditions simply because we are poor. If we are denied aid by one country, it will not affect the economic status of this nation and we can do without UK aid.” This attitude is still present in the Tanzanian government today.

Discriminatory laws in Tanzania have received support from other governments in the region. In neighboring Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni continues to try to make being gay a crime punishable by death, and he has succeeded in making it an offense punishable by life in prison. In response to this law international donors have redirected or suspended over $140 million in aid to Museveni’s government. The bill’s supporters, in turn, argued that Western influence was responsible for the small but growing Ugandan LGBT rights movement. Ironically, US-based anti-gay groups have allegedly instigated much of the recent legislative push, which has been so detrimental to the human Rights of LGBT persons in Uganda. These Western groups take the Christian message of peace and harmony and deftly twist it into anti-gay politics.

In the neighboring country of Kenya, Deputy President William Ruto, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his connection to electoral violence in 2007, has rebuked President Obama’s call for African nations to affirm LGBT rights on the grounds that such rights do not apply to gay Kenyans. Such laws, however, have their roots in British colonial legislation from long before independence. While the UK government has long since liberalized such prohibitions, the laws remain on the books as a vestige of the former British Empire.

In one of the more publicized incidents, a mob attacked the KEMRI HIV/AIDS research center in the coastal town of Mtwapa, Kenya in 2010. People’s fears were exploited; they were incited to violence by misinformation and hatred towards LGBT people. Over the course of the next three years, as a result of this violence, local religious leaders staged a campaign to bring awareness and understanding of LBGT issues. “Most people don’t know the truth, that is why they hate,” said local Mtwapa Bishop Lawrence Chai of the reconciliation efforts over the years.

Back in Tanzania, James Wandera Ouma, continues to speak about the fundamental role local activists play in this movement. “I know what life is like for LGBT Tanzanians. I know how it looked thirty years back and how it is today. Things have gotten worse. Hate speech from political leaders has increased, arbitrary arrests of gay people are on the rise, and reports continue to flow into our office of suicides due to rejection of an LGBT family member. As more and more people come out of the closet, we are experiencing violence on the streets like never before.”

Despite deteriorating political conditions, there is still a sense of hope in the LGBT community. “I was thinking for a long long time, that I thought maybe one day people could hear about me,” said Ally of the LGBT Voice. “This organization is perfect for me. Through it, people in East Africa and around the world can hear what is happening to our gay community.”

LGBT Tanzanians are not alone in being violently persecuted for their sexuality. As the profile of gay rights grows globally, so too has the backlash from anti-LGBT campaigners. In response to this ongoing struggle for equality and safety, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton established the Global Equality Fund in 2011. The fund is a collaborative effort of governments, businesses, and civil society to support local programs, which work to advance the human rights of LGBT persons around the world. Secretary of State Kerry has worked with and supported the Global Equality Fund. Now 11 countries have joined together (including the first Latin American partner, Chile) to promote social justice in Tanzania and other countries where it is a criminal offense to choose who you love. To date, the fund has already contributed to local LGBT rights programs in over 50 countries. As Secretary Clinton said in Geneva in December 2011, “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.” I encourage you to visit state.gov/globalequality to learn more about the work being done in the name of equality for all.

Written by Steven Wozencraft

  By James Wandera Ouma,

Executive Director

LGBT Voice Tanzania

Introduction

Homophobia against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and activists in Tanzania (LGBT) in Tanzania is well known. The challenges vary from everyday personal hardships to high-level factors such as hostility from civil society organizations, religious bodies, government, and law enforcement. In many cases, homophobia is perpetuated by policies that criminalize Homosexuality or neglect our basic human rights. Harassment, rejection, and violence lead many of us to actively hide our feelings and relationships, denying ourselves the social support that could improve our health and quality of life. As people come to know LGBT people and have better information about us, we may achieve common understanding that LGBT people are interested in the same rights and privileges as others in our society.

Section 1: History, causes and expressions of homophobia and discrimination in Tanzania

The root causes of Homophobia against LGBT are many and varied. Lack of knowledge about Homosexuality is an important factor, leading to misperceptions and fear of promotion of Homosexuality.

The Tanzanian Penal code section 154-157 criminalizes Homosexuality with a penalty of 30 years imprisonment, and in some cases life imprisonment. Facing such laws, we cannot disclose our sexual orientation to a health care provider, employer, and school teachers even family without risking criminal sanctions. This hinders provision of vital prevention information, testing, and care, threatens family and community support, may lead to loss of housing, employment and exclussion from school. There are no outreach workers providing HIV prevention information and services to LGBT due to the fear of being accused of supporting illegal activities, such as “promoting homosexuality.

Negative images of Homosexuals in the media and linking Homosexuality with illegal or “immoral” behavior increase Homophobia. The growing trend toward criminalizing Homosexuality heightens the homophobia which is realized through various forms of discrimination, including a statement made by Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Bernard Membe, on 3^rd September 2011 excluding us from the Tanzanian family, the resulting isolation is devastating.

LGBT persons continue to experience oppression and violence that derive from:

1. Archaic and barbaric colonial laws against adult consensual sex,
2. Colonial Victorian ideas of morality disguised as African traditional values,
3. Patriarchal notions of gender and gender expression,
4. Religious fundamentalisms
5. Strongly held social constructs that contradict the African values, acceptance, peace and shared co-existence.

Section 2: LGBT Voice

Until recently there was no voice for LGBT persons in Tanzania, and no venues for making connections, developing programs or advocacy. The  need for such a voice led  to  the establishment  of LGBT Voice  in 2009 by a group of LGBT with a cause for other LGBT in Tanzania. LGBT Voice  is a registered National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) organization with over 200 members, working to advance equality, diversity, education and justice. LGBT Voice works to advance recognition of human rights based of sexual orientation and gender identity at the national level and promote the articulation of clear national norms and mobilize international pressure because our government failed to live up to those standards.

Since 2009 LGBT Voice worked to amplify the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people during the review of the HIV/AIDS prevention and control policy review, development of Stigma reduction strategy.  LGBT Voice is now the leading organization that works directly with the social media to ensure that our stories are heard – because as people get to know the LGBT community they come to understand that we simply seek and deserve the same things all Tanzanians do: to take care of each other and our families, to have good jobs, to support our neighborhoods and to publicly serve our local, national, and religious communities.

LGBT Voice is struggling to create a national network to ensure that groups and individuals working on these issues do so not in isolation but as part of an effective coordinated national movement, will strengthen mechanisms for monitoring, documenting and reporting human rights violations and create opportunities for leading national stake holders to work effectively together to advance clearly articulated strategic goals.

Section 3: Empirical findings on the lived experiences of LGBT persons in Tanzania

LGBT Voice`s findings show that LGBT who experience discrimination and harassment are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior. Violence and threats from family members and other sources have been linked with heightened risk behaviors, such as unprotected anal sex. Hostile behaviors directed against gay men in Tanzania — including harassment from our families and the need to pretend to be heterosexual — have also been linked with high-risk sexual behavior.

The pressure to marry and have children is also placing enormous stress on LGBT people in Tanzania. When we Gay people succumb to pressure and enter into heterosexual marriage, we maintain sexual relationships with male partners and this result in unseen sexual networks, increasing HIV risk and making it difficult to reach us with prevention information.

LGBT Voice learned through members that expectations of rejection and actual events of discrimination and violence contribute to mental health problems. Gay men in Tanzania have been found to exhibit hopelessness, chronic worry, and hyper vigilance, and common psychological responses to perceived discrimination. Social discrimination directed at LGBT leads to a greater risk of street life, laziness, suicidal thoughts, risky sex, and substance use.

Hostile conditions push us underground, making us extremely difficult to reach. A recent survey by CDC on MSM in Dar es Salaam found that only about half used a condom the last time they had anal sex with another man, and less than a third had tested for HIV in the last year. Because HIV resources are often offered at sites that provide other health services, homophobia in these settings can make it particularly difficult for Gay men to get care. Even health care workers who declare acceptance of homosexuality have been known to display homophobic attitudes when providing services, breaching ethics standards and compromising the care of sexual minorities.

An HIV diagnosis in itself can lead to significant stigma and discrimination, even from the systems that deliver HIV care. Often health care resources are not available and misinformation is common.  For example those who learn they are HIV positive may not be able to get the needed tests (e.g. CD-4 and viral load) or the required anti-retroviral treatments.  However in the community they may hear that drinking battery acid will kill the virus. So in Tanzania, we  Gay people living with HIV may medicate ourselves with battery acid rather than subjecting ourselves to stigma from seeking HIV treatment from the medical establishments.

Findings and Recommendations for the African and global social work communities

LGBT persons in Tanzania continually face stigma and discrimination, harassment and arbitrary arrests, alienation from family and faith, lack of access to social services including health, justice, housing, education and dignified livelihoods. All these, despite Tanzania being signatory  to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, particularly Article 2, and the AU values of equality and non-discrimination.

We as Tanzanian LGBT activists are not asking for any new or special rights, we urge you as African and the global, social work communities, to help us advance recognition of human rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity at the national level and promote the articulation of clear national norms and mobilize international pressure because our government failed to live up to those standards.

Support us both financially and technically in the struggle to create a national network to ensure that groups and individuals working on these issues do so not in isolation but as part of an effective coordinated national movement. Our hope is to strengthen mechanisms for monitoring, documenting and reporting human rights violations and create opportunities for leading national stake holders to work effectively together to advance clearly articulated strategic goals.

Finally we call upon our government to end violence and discrimination against LGBT citizens, abolish all discriminatory laws in existence and also call upon our government to create legal and social environments conducive to the equal enjoyment of all rights for all citizens.

A little over a year ago, during the June 2013 Gay Pride celebration in San Francisco, California, it was announced that that the same-sex marriage ban in California would officially be repealed. The sense of relief and celebration was palpable. A cheer went soaring through the streets and the Castro District (San Francisco’s historically gay neighborhood) turned into a massive street party.

Earlier this year, on the 24^th of February, 2014, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda signed into law a draconian new Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which has led to a brutal crack-down on the country’s LGBT Community. In 2001, President Sam Nujoma of Namibia stated that, “The enemy is still trying to come back with their sinister maneuvers and tricks called lesbians and homosexuality and globalization… They colonized us and now they claim human rights when we condemn and reject them. In Namibia there will be no lesbian and homosexual left. Those who want to [continue with homosexual activities] must pack and go back to Europe.” While the president of Tanzania hasn’t said anything with regards to same sex marriage, a look at newspaper editorials in Tanzania, with a few notable exceptions, seems to support the stance that the presidents of Uganda, Namibia and many other African countries have taken.

The question I have been debating is how has the increasing movement towards same-sex marriage in many Western countries affected the situation for LGBT people on the ground in the 76 countries which still criminalize homosexuality, the majority of which are in Africa and which include Tanzania. Has the increased attention that has been given to LGBT rights throughout the world, and particularly the movement to legalize same-sex marriage, led to a backlash and a greater amount of homophobic violence in African countries? Has the Western LGBT Rights movement served to make things worse in other regions of the world, or is this the first step towards global acceptance of the LGBT community? (The early stages of the LGBT movement in the US and Europe were also fraught with great levels of violence).

A great deal of the criticism of the LGBT movement in Africa has mirrored what President Sam Nujoma has said and has given the accusation that the LGBT community is “Un-African,” that it comes from the West, that it is a form of neo-colonialism or “recruitment of children” on the part of the West and that it is unnatural. The irony in this is that it was actually colonialism that brought the anti-sodomy laws to Africa given fact that there were many indigenous traditions of homosexuality throughout the continent. According to Human Rights Watch Report titled “This Alien Legacy,” these sodomy laws were used as a way of “civilizing” indigenous Africans and were a tool of social control, so in a way “it would be an emancipatory rejection of the historical wrong of colonialism to decriminalize homosexuality.[1]”

So where do we stand now? Each and every day more countries are legalizing same sex marriage. Currently 16 countries around the world, including South Africa, have legalized same sex marriage, and same sex marriage has been legalized in certain jurisdictions of other countries. However, at the same time, there are still 76 countries that criminalize homosexuality and 5 countries that have the death penalty for same-sex relations. Same sex marriage is a long way off from being legalized in Tanzania, but the tide is slowly shifting throughout the world. As the tide changes, things may begin to get much worse for the LGBT community as the moral crusaders attempt maintain their power and politicians use the LGBT community as a scapegoat for other serious issues affecting the country. However, change will come and grassroots activist organizations such as LGBT Voice Tanzania will be at the forefront of bringing that change in this country.

“End the persecution of people because of their sexual orientation, which is every bit as unjust as that crime against humanity, apartheid” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2004

[1] http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/12/17/alien-legacy-0

Author : Bryan Weiner