Tanzania Is After LGBT People And Cuts HIV Care

It seems like the LGBT groups in Tanzania are on a lockdown, especially when their own government attacks their sexuality. HIV programs were suspended and so does any organization that supports gay people, reported NPR News.

Even more so, homosexuals were threatened and placed into custody for ludicrous reasons. Being gay is against Tanzania's laws and having sexual intercourse with a person of the same gender is punishable by life imprisonment.

The government plans to list names of homosexuals in their countries as nurses and doctors even prevent treatments for these minority groups. Twelve people in one night were arrested for being suspected of being gay. They spent the weekends in a jail cell until they were taken to a hospital for an anal test.

There are only eight countries in the world and Tanzania only started doing these exams in December 2016. The crackdown would grow more intensely, especially when the Trump administration also fails to see the importance of LGBT rights.

Deputy Health Minister of Tanzania Hamisi Kigwangalla told BuzzFeed News, "People will be arrested if there is information that people are indulging themselves in unnatural sexual activities." He continued saying that Tanzania is a country with laws and people expect to be examined. Earlier in 2017, Kigwangalla planned on releasing the names of LGBT people to which he canceled afterward. He defended his stance saying, "I was targeting only those who were promoting homosexuality."

Kigwangalla took up the favor of the government on his Twitter account and often commends the efforts of the police force for rounding up gay people. When John Magufuli became president in 2015, never was there a tighter time for gay people or straight individuals who advocate LGBT rights. A #WhatWouldMagufuliDo hashtag and meme broke the internet, but it has proven to be quieter now that Magufuli started acting on his policies.

Since December 2016 and the start of anal testing, LGBT people cowers in fear. They said the procedure made them feel as though they were "raped."