A section of Mwangulu residents in Lunga Lunga subcounty have raised the alarm over the increase of gay activities in the area.
The locals say it started with a few people, but the number has gone up, raising concern about young male generations.
Chizi Mnyika Beja said it is almost three years since the trend emerged. She strongly condemned the activities, terming them satanic.
Beja fears that if the situation persists, there will be no husbands available to young women.
“If men are seeing each other, what will happen to us females who are waiting for the same people to marry us and fulfil our conjugal rights?” she posed.
It is believed the acts are mostly practised on Sunday night as locals wait for the market day on Monday.
Mwangulu is known for livestock trade, and businessmen and women from Tanzania flock to the town during the market days.
Esther Mgandi said it is heartbreaking seeing very energetic and responsible men "taking women roles".
She said some prostitutes have also complained that men are taking over their business, saying she had spotted over five cases in the last two weeks.
Mgandi said some men do it for business purposes, pleasure while others are sodomised when drunk.
The locals said the rise in homosexuality has become a worrying trend that requires immediate intervention.
“The few people who do it are destroying the image of other good men we have around. We have boys who might copy the behaviour when growing up,” she said.
Activist Mwakuyala Mohammed said the trend might have been caused by high poverty levels that continue to wreak havoc in families. He said some people do it to provide daily bread at home.
“Unemployment and laziness is the main problem. Often times people fall for cheap money to sustain their families."
Mohammed also blamed the use of drugs among youth.
Lunga Lunga is always on the police radar for illegal trade of drugs and smuggling activities.
Mwangulu village elder Mrezi Boto said they end up being threatened when they try to speak to some of the suspected gays.
Boto called upon the security agents, religious elders and activists to stand up against the vice.
He said homosexualiy is an evil practice that violates the African traditional lifestyle and shouldn’t be allowed in society.
