Stupidity on a monumental level: Tanzania bans lube to stop gay sex

In move that will only increase the spread of HIV, Tanzania’s so called “health minister” has banned personal lubricants in a bid to stop gay people from having sex.

According to reports, minister Ummy Mwalimu announced an end to the import and sale of the products because, she claimed, they encourage homosexuality.

Bizarrely, she actually believes that the move will prevent the spread of HIV in her country.

“It is true that the government has banned the importation and use of the jelly to curb the spread of HIV,” Mwalimu told local media on Tuesday.

The deeply misguided official went on to state: “It is estimated that 23% of men who have sex with men in Tanzania are living with HIV/AIDS.”

Therefore, “I have instructed stakeholders working with gay people to remove the products from the market.”

The use of lubricants together with condoms is recognised as being among the most important means to prevent the transmission of the HI virus among men who have sex with men (MSM), many of whom also sleep with women.

Mwalimu went on to say that money used to distribute free lube to MSM by groups working with the community would now be used to “buy beds for the maternity wards”.

The minister’s action came as the world’s HIV experts met in Durban this week for the International Aids Conference to highlight the reality that the Aids epidemic cannot be beaten without ending stigma and discrimination against the gay community.

Sex acts between men are illegal in Tanzania and carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. While sex acts between women are not specifically banned in most of the country, they are illegal on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and are punishable by up to five years imprisonment.

In the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, 95 percent of Tanzanians said that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.