Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Hundreds in hiding as Tanzania launches anti-gay crackdown
Source: The Guardian
Hundreds in hiding as Tanzania launches anti-gay crackdown
Dar es Salaam official creates taskforce aimed at finding and punishing LGBT community
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Mon 5 Nov 2018 17.55 GMT
Hundreds of LGBT activists in Tanzania have gone into hiding after a senior official announced a taskforce aiming to identify and punish gay people in Dar es Salaam.
Paul Makonda, the city’s administrative head, said he had put together a team of officials and police that would target gay people, who could face lengthy prison sentences, in an intensification of anti-LGBT discrimination.
In an interview posted on YouTube, Makonda called for Tanzanians to report gay people and told a news conference he had already received more than 5,700 messages from the public, including more than 100 names.
One LGBT activist, speaking to the Guardian from Dar es Salaam on condition of anonymity, said: “They are raiding houses. It is a horrible thing. It is just going to get worse. So many people are leaving the city, running away. They are targeting the activists, saying we are promoting homosexuality. We have to hide.”
Another activist in the city described the atmosphere as “open season on gay people” and reported lists of names being published on social media to “out people”.
-snip-
Dar es Salaam official creates taskforce aimed at finding and punishing LGBT community
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Mon 5 Nov 2018 17.55 GMT
Hundreds of LGBT activists in Tanzania have gone into hiding after a senior official announced a taskforce aiming to identify and punish gay people in Dar es Salaam.
Paul Makonda, the city’s administrative head, said he had put together a team of officials and police that would target gay people, who could face lengthy prison sentences, in an intensification of anti-LGBT discrimination.
In an interview posted on YouTube, Makonda called for Tanzanians to report gay people and told a news conference he had already received more than 5,700 messages from the public, including more than 100 names.
One LGBT activist, speaking to the Guardian from Dar es Salaam on condition of anonymity, said: “They are raiding houses. It is a horrible thing. It is just going to get worse. So many people are leaving the city, running away. They are targeting the activists, saying we are promoting homosexuality. We have to hide.”
Another activist in the city described the atmosphere as “open season on gay people” and reported lists of names being published on social media to “out people”.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/05/tanzania-gay-people-in-hiding-lgbt-activists-crackdown
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
