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HOMOPHOBIA

Denmark withholds aid to Tanzania over homophobia

Persecution of LGBTQ+ people by a Tanzanian governor appears to have resulted in Denmark withdrawing millions of kroner in aid to the developing country.

Published: 16 November 2018 10:56 CET
Denmark withholds aid to Tanzania over homophobia
Minister for International Development Ulla Tørnæs. File photo: Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix

Minister for International Development Ulla Tørnæs said in parliament this week that the government will withhold 65 million kroner which was scheduled to be paid to the east African country this year.

“I am very concerned over the negative developments in Tanzania, most recently with the completely unacceptable homophobic statements from a commissioner,” Tørnæs, who did not name the official in question, said.

“Respect for human rights is one of the most important priorities in Denmark’s foreign partnerships. That includes the right not to be discriminated against based on sexual orientation,” she added.

Paul Makonda, governor of Dar-es-Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, recently called for residents to denounce gay and lesbian people to authorities.

According to a report by broadcaster DR, Makonda also said that he would appoint investigators to search for homosexual people on social media in order to arrest them.

Up to 30 years in prison can be given in Tanzania for being in a same-sex relationship.

The east African country was the second-largest beneficiary of Danish foreign aid in 2017, receiving a total of 349 million kroner, but Makonda’s comments have thrown the future of that economic backing into doubt.

“Several forms of freedom are under increasing pressure. That’s why, in my view, it is necessary to re-evaluate Denmark’s engagement in Tanzania,” Tørnæs said.

The minister has also postponed a scheduled visit to the country.

She will discuss with EU counterparts later this month the future form of aid to Tanzania.

“We will thoroughly assess the situation together. That is the best way to follow up on our goals for development, democracy and human rights for the people of Tanzania,” she said.

Makonda does not regret the comments, for which he has received international criticism, DR reports.

“I prefer to anger (critical) countries than to anger God,” he said according to the broadcaster.

Tørnæs will redistribute the aid money that had been allocated to Tanzania, with 40 million kroner now set to be given to local organisations that promote human rights.

READ ALSO: Danish former MP makes homophobic remark about Emmanuel Macron

HOMOPHOBIA

Youth admits vicious gay attack story that shocked Spain was a lie

A young man who claimed eight masked assailants carved a homophobic slur on his buttocks in Madrid in broad daylight, sparking an outcry, has admitted he lied, Spain's Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

Published: 9 September 2021 09:17 CEST
Youth admits vicious gay attack story that shocked Spain was a lie
Photo: Curto de la Torre/AFP

The 20-year-old told police he was attacked on Sunday at the entrance to his apartment building in the trendy Malasana district near the Spanish capital’s lively gay heighbourhood.

He claimed the assailants cut his lower lip with a knife then scored the word “maricón”, meaning “faggot” into his buttocks, while spewing homophobic attacks.

But on Wednesday he “decided to rectify his initial statement and said the injuries allegedly inflicted had been consensual,” an interior ministry source told AFP.

The alleged attack came just two months after a young gay man was beaten to death in northern Spain in another suspected homophobic attack and it drew a sharp rebuke from Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The premier said there was “no place for hatred” and he called an urgent meeting for Friday of Spain’s commission against hate crimes.

Leftist parties and rights groups also accused far-right party Vox of encouraging homophobic attacks with its vocal opposition to gay rights.

News that the young man, who has not been identified, had changed his story sparked a flurry of reaction.

Equality Minister Irene Montero tweeted that “hate crimes against LGBTI people rose 43 percent during the first half of 2021” over the same period last year.

She urged people not to focus on the “tree which hides the forest”.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said it was “anecdotal” that the man had changed his story “because hate crimes have risen”.

“And obviously there is public conduct, online behaviour which encourage hate crimes, lets not trivialise,” he told private television La Sexta.

But Javier Giner, a film director and gay activist, lashed out at the youth, saying he had done “unnecessary and gratuitous harm to all victims of homophobic attacks and to everyone who fights to end them.”

Two months ago Samuel Luiz, 24, was beaten to death near a nightclub in the northern city of Coruna in an attack denounced by Sanchez as “savage and merciless”. It brought huge crowds onto the streets in protest.

A protest called for Wednesday night in central Madrid in response to the supposed attack would still take place, organisers said. 

READ MORE: Is Spain really a tolerant country when it comes to LGBTQ+ people?

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