Multidimensional Effects of anti-LGBTQI Discrimination. : A case study of Dar Es Salaam’s LGBTQI community; Lived realities of queerphobia in Tanzania.

Sammanfattning: ‘The LGBTQ community is not sinful and criminal’ was a quote made by Pope Francis at the time of writing this paper on his sub-Saharan tour in Kinshasa (NPR, 2023), denouncing LGBTQI criminalisation as ‘unjust’. At present, 33 of the 68 countries globally who criminalise homosexuality are African (Varella, 2022). This is predominantly consequential to laws which came into legislation under European colonising powers. In many African states these exist until the present day with vague wording, such as ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ (Reid, 2022), attempting to be justified on cultural and religious grounds.  Looking at Tanzania’s case, which criminalises homosexuality with up to life prison sentences (Human Dignity Trust, 2019), this paper assesses the ramifications of multidimensional discrimination on LGBTQI citizens. Inspired by the United Nations ‘Leave no one behind’ campaign (UN, 2022), an analytical human security framework is utilised in conjunction with Galtung's conflict triangle (Dutta, 2022) and queer theory to assess the multidimensional effects of discrimination LGBTQI Tanzanians face. This research is undertaken using a bottom-up approach, focusing on the complexities and intricacies of discrimination from the LGBTQI perspective, through life story and open-ended interviews as well as ethnographic observation of the queer community and key informants working in organisations helping the marginalised LGBTQI community in Dar Es Salaam. A literature review justified this bottom-up methodology as a research gap presented itself insofar as this is an understudied and underrepresented demographic.  Under the new presidency and with globalisation becoming more influential on societal mindsets this study aims to decipher between legislation and lived realities. Time constraints present a challenge limiting ethnographic findings, with delimitations presenting themselves in single language interviews due to translation restrictions. Findings enabled the community and organisation representatives to represent their perception of discrimination which were then analysed, to identify key areas requiring further research and development. This study aspires to contribute to knowledge in the field of LGBTQI inclusion in global development and human security in accordance with the SDGs of the Agenda 2030 (UN, 2018).