Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Tanzania face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality in Tanzania is a socially taboo topic, and same-sex sexual acts (even in private and consensual) are criminal offences, punishable with life imprisonment. The law also criminalises heterosexuals who engage in oral sex and anal intercourse.
According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 95 percent of Tanzanian residents believed that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, which was the seventh-highest rate of non-acceptance in the 45 countries surveyed.
According to Afrobarometer 2020 poll only 10 percent of Tanzanians would be tolerant of someone with a different sexual orientation which is among the lowest in Africa but higher than a 2007 poll.
In recent years, Tanzania has become particularly hostile to LGBT people. In October 2017, it deported staff of several HIV/AIDS groups on the basis of "promoting homosexuality". Tanzania has a high HIV/AIDS rate and reportedly one million people are infected. The Government has increasingly resorted to homophobic rhetoric, alleging that homosexuality is "un-African". In 2018, a so-called "witch hunt" was declared against gay people in Dar es Salaam, where gay men were forced to endure anal examinations and torture. Tanzania has a poor human rights record. Government respect for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly is declining.
Despite this, there have been several Tanzanian human rights campaigners, activists, lawyers and feminists like Maria Sarungi, Fatma Karume, Mwanahamisi Singano, Zara Kay, Khalifa Said, Goodluck Haule and many others who have openly supported LGBT rights whilst openly opposing state-sanctioned homophobia and dangerous rhetoric from government officials who have called for further persecution of these marginalized groups. Promoters of anti-LGBT campaigns have included the former president Magufuli, Paul Makonda, Ally Hapi, and Hamisi Kigwangalla.
History
Prior to colonisation, various modern-day Tanzanian ethnic groups accepted homosexuality or viewed it with indifference.
The Swahili people had traditions of acceptance towards homosexuality. Homosexuals are known as (plural: ), and historically had certain social roles, such as drumming and playing music at marriages and other festivals. The word was also used by women to refer to "friends". Over time, relationships turned into economic relations, with poorer young men being paid by richer older men (, plural: ) for sexual relations. Socially, only the were regarded as "homosexual", the would usually have a wife.
Lesbians relationships were also commonplace in Swahili society. Lesbians (known as or (plural: or ), literally 'grinders') also had certain societal roles, including doing tasks typically associated with men. Similarly to relationships, relationships were also defined for economic purposes, though less so. The older partner ( (plural: )) was typically wealthier and of a higher social class. Women who resisted marriage and were interested in education and careers were perceived as being , regardless of their actual sexual orientation. Collectively, homosexuals were called (literally 'woman, not man').
Among the Maasai people, traditions of cross-dressing were common and typically performed at rituals. During initiation rituals, young male Maasai would often dress as women and wear the (ear-rings worn by women to show that they are married) and other female garments.
Among the Kuria people, lesbian marriages were, and still are to some extent, quite commonplace. Though now not perceived as being "homosexual", these marriages are performed for economic and diplomatic purposes, such as when a family has no son.
Societal acceptance and tolerance of homosexuality and same-sex relationships quickly disappeared after the arrival of the Europeans. Laws punishing homosexuality were enacted, and over time homophobia has become deeply ingrained in the population. In 2015, Adebisi Ademola Alimi, then a lecturer at the Humboldt University of Berlin, discussed this omnipresent homophobia in, not only Tanzania, but in Africa as a whole.
Legality of same-sex sexual activity
Throughout Tanzania, sex acts between men are illegal and carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Sex acts between women are not mentioned specifically in mainland Tanzanian law. The semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar outlaws same-sex sexual acts between women with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or a TSh fine. Heterosexual oral and anal sex is also illegal.