Choko Huyu Hataishia Airport…

Daktari Hamisi Kigwangalla,

Jambo! (Anyone who knows me knows just how much I hate that word)

I wrote to you a while back, here at a time when, as the Deputy Minister for Health, in a moment of sheer doltishness, you inexplicably banned the distribution of lubricants in your country claiming that this was promoting the spread of homosexuality. You did this not paying heed to the fact that it is not only homosexuals who need to use lubricant during sex. You did this, as a doctor, even as statistics showed the increasing numbers of HIV transmission in your country. You did this just to spite a section of the society that exists in your country, and will continue to exist in your country, because you find what they do as consensual adults in the privacy of their homes uncomfortable.

You are now the in the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism. Congratulations on your promotion? I’m not entirely sure where that lies in Tanzania but congratulations nonetheless. This is a ministry that is responsible for, among other things including beekeeping and fisheries, development of tourism in the country. Now, I must tell you, and I can’t believe it takes a Kenyan to tell you this, your tweets have not really helping in the development of tourism in your country at all.

I mean, your country is home to the highest peak of Africa that everyone wants to see. It is home to the Serengeti…Maasai Mara’s cousin who’s simply too close for comfort but works because…you know…wildebeests need to move around. It is home to Zanzibar…a gem I have yet to see but still a gem. It is home to Stone Town and the Ruins of Kilwa…why the hell am I telling you about the tourist attractions of your country? You are the minister in charge of that. Let’s talk instead about the real reason I’m writing you. The gays!

Choko huyu hatoishia airport!

First of all. You are an entire minister in Magufuli’s government. Why would you even consider using that word in your tweet? Hang on a moment…I think I may have confused the world we live in with a world devoid of the likes of Duterte, Bolsonaro and Drumpf. It is an incredibly derogatory word and the fact that you decided to use it in your tweet ought to tell the people of Tanzania the kind of person you are. You are a person who doesn’t have a sense of decency or respect for the position he holds. You are a person who doesn’t care for a section of your constituents. A section that not only votes but also has friends who vote and family who vote and neighbours who vote. All these people who care for that section of your constituents.

Choko huyu hataishia airport!

Secondly, have you any idea what the purchasing power of the gay community is? I very kindly advise you to Google “pink money”. You are the minister in charge of the development of tourism in your country. You should know.

By the way…remember the welcome that Ellen DeGeneres got in your country?

You are welcome.

Choko huyu hataishia airport!

Third. I have said this before, I will say it again. The Tanzanian population (and in the same way, the population of Africa) has within it, people who are black, white, left handed, right handed, living with disabilities, living with albinism, gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex among many other identities. These people have existed in our society since time immemorial (except perhaps the white people who have also been a part of the human race). Homosexuality was not introduced by the west. Anthropological studies (which you may very well dismiss as western propaganda) have shown the existence of people of different sexual orientations and gender identities even before colonization. There are so many resources with this information and please feel free to contact me for links to them.

Choko huyu hataishia airport!

Number 4: At what point did you decide to be male (making an assumption here knowing I shouldn’t but what the hell)? At what point did you decide to be straight (another massive assumption)? At what point did you decide to be the person you are now? Have the emotions you have now? Have the personality you have now (save the very evident dislike for people who have sex in a way that makes you a tad uncomfortable)? At what point did this happen? I asked you last time to have a conversation with some of us. Hell, I even offered myself as a test subject (with a chastity belt on if that would make you more comfortable). At no point does anyone actually choose their sexual orientation or gender identity. They just are. Why would anyone really decide to be on the other end of your hateful rhetoric? Would you?

Choko huyu hataishia airport!

Tano: Paul Makonda calling for a task force to target us is not only criminal, but it is also a show of just how low those who don’t care for the lives of their fellow countrymen can get. It shows just how low failing politicians can get to pick one of the most marginalized community in the country and use them as pawns because the people are beginning to see the bullshit they spew. It shows that a politician who is drowning will gladly drag a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, a neighbor even a friend down with him because he wants to remain relevant. It shows that these politicians (AND THIS IS MEANT FOR EVERY CITIZEN OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA) will use laws that will infringe on your privacy. Laws that will dictate the way you have sex with your partner. Laws that will tell you that the kind of sex that you have is against the order of nature. And guess what “the order of nature” is…No?…I will tell you. It is when whatever you do to experience sexual pleasure does not result in reproduction…now tell me, who among you is not liable for 30 years in prison?

Choko huyu hataishia airport!

I will thrive. And so will all the other gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer people in Tanzania. Our journeys will not end at the airport. We shall visit the Serengeti. We shall climb Kilimanjaro. We shall get a tan on our black skins on the beaches of Zanzibar. We shall thrive. Your hate shall not stop us. Your derogatory terms shall not deter us. Your depriving us of lubricant shall not dry our mouths. You will not wish away the existence of a people who have been a part of the society centuries before you were a sperm in your father’s scrotum. Your hate will NEVER WIN!

Machoko hawa hawataishia airport!

Because…we are you. We are your brothers. We are your sisters. We are your fathers. We are your doctors. We are your gardeners. We are your cousins. We are your wives. We are your husbands. We are YOU.

You will never wish us away.

NONE OF YOU EVER WILL!

Machoko hawa hawatoishia airport!