Gay Men Liable to Jail for Life in Zanzibar
The
Guardian, March 25, 2004
By Jeevan Vasagar, east Africa correspondent
A moral panic over homosexuality in Zanzibar has prompted
the island’s government to draft a law imposing life imprisonment for men
convicted of gay sex. Homosexuality is already illegal on the Indian Ocean
island and the gay scene is covert, but the draft bill appears to be a
backlash against the increasing numbers of Zanzibaris living more openly gay
lifestyles.
The proposed law bans same-sex marriages and sanctions a
25-year jail term for sex between men and a seven-year term for lesbians.
“We have heard that same-sex marriages have taken place
here and we want to guard against this trend,” Zanzibar’s deputy attorney
general, Omar Makungu, told the BBC.
Homosexuality is still largely taboo in Africa, and
bigoted attitudes are held by the church and politicians, but the east African
coast has traditionally taken a more tolerant approach. While there are no gay
clubs or bars, coastal regions like Zanzibar, and Lamu and Malindi in Kenya,
are popular destinations for gay tourists.
The clampdown follows a same-sex marriage reportedly
celebrated publicly on the island last year.
There is scepticism about whether Zanzibar’s
authorities will put the law into practice, or whether it is simply a sop to
conservative opinion on the Muslim-dominated island.
“I don’t think the police are going to go looking for
homosexuals in the clubs,” Mr Karim said. “They are just putting out a new
law to show the government is serious. It’s a political issue. Because some
people are saying openly they are homosexual and are not afraid, the
government is showing it is going to take some action.”
Zanzibar and nearby Pemba island enjoy a degree of
autonomy within the Tanzanian republic, which already has a law, inherited
from the British colonial era, which penalises homosexuality with up to 14
years’ jail, though it is rarely enforced.
African leaders such as Zimbabwe’s president, Robert
Mugabe, regularly fulminate against homosexuality as a practice illustrating
western decadence and alien to Africa.
However, anthropologists have documented cases of “male
wives” on the continent in pre-colonial times and the main opposition to
homosexual equality is from the churches bearing Victorian attitudes to sex.
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