Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Malawian Gay Couple Found Guilty

In a very sad, but to be expected, turn of events on my home continent the gay Malawian couple I blogged about some months ago- Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza- were found guilty of gross indecency and unnatural acts. They face up to 14 years in prison.

I am trying my utmost not to swear and use profanities in this post. Feel free to do so in your comments though.

A full article, Gay Couple Convicted in Malawi is available on the New York Times website and I ask you to read the whole thing. Here's some of it:

Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa, in delivering Tuesday’s judgment in a small courtroom in Blantyre, the country’s commercial capital, was similarly stern. He referred to the crime as “buggery,” using language from when Malawi was a British colony and the current law was written.

He found both men guilty of “carnal knowledge” that was “against the order of nature.” He said the two had been “living together as husband and wife,” which “transgresses the Malawian recognized standards of propriety.”

As the judgment was translated for them from English into Chichewa, the defendants barely flinched. Then they were hastened out of a back door, escaping a taunting crowd that already was celebrating their conviction.

Yup, they were convicted under a law that dates back to the Colonial days. It's funny how quick they are to point out how un-African (or Malawian) homosexuality is, but then find them guilty under a law written by non-Africans. Who in the meantime, luckily, came round.

Keep them in your thoughts. Here's a petition to sign against the trial. More info over here.

Oh whatever, fuck this shit.

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