NPR

People With HIV Are Panicking Due To Tanzania's Crackdown On Gays

The government is targeting gays and groups seen as promoting homosexuality. HIV clinics fear they'll be shut down. Patients say they're afraid to come in for their medications.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - November 16, 2016: A gay man with HIV stands in a clinic in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Due to the government's crackdown on the gay community, the man has been afraid to pick his medicine up for two weeks, in spite of the massive risks to his health. (Photo by Kevin Sief / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"I'm alone in this world," sobs the woman, tears smudging her black eyeliner as she clutches a handbag with medicine inside — antiretroviral pills for HIV.

Wearing a hijab that covers her long hair, a traditional Arabic dress with roses and wedge heels, she sits in the office of a community group that offers support to LGBT sex workers, trying to regain her composure. "Princess Shadya," as she is known to friends, is transgender and identifies as a woman. And she lives in Tanzania, where LGBT people are increasingly coming under attack from the government.

"I'm getting worried

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Tesla Recalls Cybertruck Over Sticky Problem. Blame It On — Yes — Soap
Accelerator pedals on the new Cybertrucks can get stuck, a potentially dangerous production flaw. The reason why they're so sticky is soap.
NPR1 min read
Amsterdam Was Flooded With Tourists In 2023, So It Won't Allow Any More Hotels
Twenty-six hotels that already have permits can move forward, but after that a hotel can only be built if one shuts down. Tourists spent about 20.7 million nights in Amsterdam hotels last year.
NPR3 min readDiet & Nutrition
What World War II Taught Us About How To Help Starving People Today
The modern study of the starvation was sparked by the liberation of concentration camp survivors. U.S. and British soldiers rushed to feed them — and yet they sometimes perished.

Related Books & Audiobooks