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Gay News: A judge has convicted a gay couple in Malawi of 'unnatural acts' and 'gross indecency'.
By: Nigel Robinson
Gay sex "against the order of nature"
Gay sex "against the order of nature"
Gay couple in Malawi face 14 years
Sentencing on the two gay men is due to be carried out on Thursday 20 May, and the couple face up to fourteen years in prison.
The men, 20-year-old Tiwonge Chimbalanga and his partner Steven Monjeza, 26, were arrested in December after a party they had held to celebrate their engagement.
The judge convicted the men of engaging in gay sex, which is illegal n Malawi, and which he said was “against the order of nature”.
He said that the two men were living together as husband and wife, which, he also claimed, “transgresses the Malawian recognised standards of propriety”.
The laws under which the two men were prosecuted date back from colonial times, and their defence lawyers have argued that such laws are unconstitutional, and violate the country’s 1994 constitution.
A lawyer for the couple said:
“Unlike in a rape case, there was no complainant or victim in this case.
“Here are two consenting adults doing their thing in private. Nobody will be threatened or offended if they are released into society.”
The verdict has also raised concerns that it will force gay people into hiding, thereby hindering the fight against HIV and AIDS.
It is estimated that 1 million Malawians – about twelve per cent of the population – are HIV-positive.
In an article in today’s Independent, gay rights activist Peter Tatchell argues that homophobia in Africa is largely a product of the laws which were imposed on the continent by its past colonial rulers.
“Homophobia in Africa is mostly a colonial imposition,” Tatchell wrote. “But this is no excuse for these now-independent nations to perpetuate colonial-era anti-gay laws and attitudes.
“It is time to finish the African liberation struggle by ending the persecution of gay Africans.”
Homosexuality is illegal in at least 38 African states.
