Anything but Gay

The love that daren't speak its name in Malawi...

When 26-year-old Steven Monjeza and 20-year-old Tiwonge Chimbalanga celebrated an engagement ceremony in the African nation Malawi, it was symbolic of their love. Then, they were arrested under the country’s 'decency laws' and kept confined for months in a maximum-security prison.

As the case has dragged on, Malawi has become yet another African nation making headlines for its anti-gay laws, along with Uganda, which has  proposed a barbaric law for the death penalty for those with same sex orientation.

Earlier this month, the trial of Monjeza and Chimbalanga was postponed. The judge agreed to allow the defense to use the additional time to gather witnesses. Although the postponement allows the defense more time, Chivuli Ukwimi of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission criticized the court’s decision, as the 'most recent in a line of deeply troubling decisions and actions by the Malawian authorities in this case', including the decision to deny bail to Steven and Tiwonge. The government claims that their continued incarceration is for their own 'safety.'

Meanwhile,  the men have been forced to undergo intrusive physical examinations for authorities to 'determine' whether they have engaged in anal sex.

A protest that took place March 22 in London condemned the months that the men have spent in prison since their arrest late last December. Gay Malawi refugee Edi Phiri spoke at the protest, saying, "I urge my President and government to intervene to release Steven and Tiwonge. These two men don’t deserve the way they are suffering in jail. It is unfair to treat Steven and Tiwonge like this." Noted Phiri, "Malawi’s anti-gay laws are not African. They were imposed by the British colonizers nearly two centuries ago."

From their prison cell in Malawi, Steven and Tiwonge sent a message to me in London, urging international pressure to secure their release.

Tiwonge and Steven have been arrested, prosecuted and held in jail solely because of their sexual orientation.. All civilised people want them released and  all charges dropped. It's time to  repeal Malawi’s anti-homosexuality laws. These laws violate the equality and non-discrimination provisions of Article 20 of the Malawian Constitution and Articles 2, 3 and 4 and the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, which Malawi has signed and pledged to uphold.

Tiwonge and Steven love each other and have harmed no one. But they could be jailed for up to 14 years" under Malawi’s decency laws.

International pressure has been mounting on the men’s behalf. Amnesty International has "adopted" the two as "prisoners of conscience". The director of AI’s British branch, Kate Allen states that Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga have committed no criminal offense and that it is vital that as many people as possible join in writing to the Malawi authorities calling on them to release the two men."

Members of the British Parliament’s House of Commons have signed a motion that calls for the men’s release. International monetary supporters have also warned that rights abuses in Malawi--including abuses aimed at gays--could impact aid revenue.

Malawi’s GLBT advocates have been energized by the case, but public sentiment in Malawi also seems to be hardening against gays, according to a Feb. 3 article posted at Voice of America’s Web site VOANews.com. Malawi journalist Watipaso Mzungu was quoted in the article as saying, "Malawi has its own values and structures, which should be respected. So we don’t necessarily expect MPs from Britain or anywhere else to dictate to Malawi on what they should do."

The article noted that human rights advocates who had spoken out on behalf of Monjeza and Chimbalanga had also been allegedly taken into custody by police, in one case for the possession of "pornographic" material related to sexual health. The article also noted that the Centre for the Development of People had come under pressure from the Malawi government, as well as various religious factions, including Muslims, Christians, and Hindus.

It is suggested that the repudiation of Malawi’s anti-gay laws may lead to the possibility that laws against homosexuals will be made even more stringent.

The trial’s delays may be over soon. Following two attempts by the defense to have the case dismissed, and two occasions on which the men have been denied bail, Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa has ruled that the trial will commence on April 3. "In the balance of probability the State has established a prima-facie case against the two as charged," Usiwa Usiwa ruled, according to a March 22 Reuters story.

Outdated and discrminatory Colonial laws, fashioned by the Victorian values of the time still operate in many colonial countries, and the situation in India is not very different. there exist enough and more 'law given' opportunities to harass and demean sexuality minorities: Gay, lesbian, transgendered, Bisexual. and Queer people in South Asia as well.