Malawi gay uple who 'married' face harsh prison sentenc | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• MALAWI GAY UPLE GET MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF 14 YEARS
• MALAWI GAY COUPLE GUILTY OF 'INCENCY'
• GAY COUPLE MALAWI GET MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF 14 YEARS PRISON
• LOVE FAILS TO NQUER ALL AS MALAWI GAY UPLE SEPARATE
• MALAWI URT NVICTS GAY UPLE
• MALAWI GAY UPLE WHO 'MARRIED' FACE HARSH PRISON SENTENC
• MALAWI GAY UPLE JAILED FOR CENCY, UNNATURAL ACTS
• MALAWI GAY UPLE NVICTED OF CENCY, UNNATURAL ACTS
• GAY MALAWI UPLE SEPARATED PRISON
• MALAWIAN GAY UPLE JAILED FOR 14 YEARS

MALAWI GAY UPLE GET MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF 14 YEARS

Image ptn, The pair were arrted after holdg an engagement ceremony last DecemberA judge Malawi has imposed a maximum sentence of 14 years prison wh hard labour on a gay uple nvicted of gross cency and unnatural judge said he wanted to protect the public om "people like you" Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, have been jail sce they were arrted December after holdg an engagement se has sparked ternatnal nmnatn and a bate about homosexualy the Brish ernment, Malawi's largt donor, exprsed s "dismay" at the sentenc, but has not whdrawn aid.

UK gay rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell poted out that the laws unr which the pair were nvicted were troduced durg Brish lonial le. NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18, 2010— -- A judge Malawi has found a gay uple guilty of unnatural acts and gross cency.

The two have remaed prison sce the arrt, and uld be sentenced to up to 14 years se has drawn ternatnal nmnatn of anti-homosexualy laws Malawi.

MALAWI GAY COUPLE GUILTY OF 'INCENCY'

Steven and Tiwonge eely nfirmed their love for each other, but the prosecutn has entered no credible evince that they had mted any sexual acts, " Peter Tatchell, spokperson for the London-based gay human rights group OutRage!, told ABC News. Tatchell, who has been workg wh human rights groups supportg and advotg for the men, says he expects both men will appeal the is one of at least 37 Sub-Saharan Ain untri explicly crimalizg homosexualy. Some of the untri, like Sudan and parts of Nigeria, have laws makg homosexualy a crime punishable by is a heated bate over a proposed law, often referred to as the "kill the gays" law, which would give the ath penalty to certa homosexual acts and life imprisonment for simply beg South Ai, the only untry Ai that has laws protectg gays om discrimatn, lbians have been subjected to "rrective rap" by gangs, wh human rights groups accg law enforcement officials there of lookg the other way.

Wtern donor untri like the Uned Stat and Bra have exprsed unhapps wh the current trend of anti-gay laws Ai.

GAY COUPLE MALAWI GET MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF 14 YEARS PRISON

In the Uned Stat, members of Congrs signed a bi-partisan rolutn nmng the Uganda law and all others on the ntent which crimalize homosexualy.

Ain untri unter wh the argument that homosexualy is both anti-Ain and anti-Christian, that 's an "unnatural" way of life beg thst upon them by the liberal Wt. "Nearly all the anti-gay laws Ai were imposed by Wtern lonial powers like Bra durg the 19th century.

"In some Ain untri, the anti-gay mpaign is beg stirred up by right wg evangelil church om the Uned Stat, " says Tatchell. "They are sendg preachers to Ai who are cg lol Christians to crack down on homosexualy.

LOVE FAILS TO NQUER ALL AS MALAWI GAY UPLE SEPARATE

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTGay Couple Malawi Get Maximum Sentence of 14 Years PrisonMay 20, 2010JOHANNESBURG — Two gay men Malawi, nvicted this week of unnatural acts and gross cency, were sentenced Thursday to the maximum penalty allowed by law, 14 years of hard labor prison. Homosexualy is regard as ttable by most people Malawi, an impoverished natn of 15 ln southern Ai.

Gays, lbians and transgenr people do not dare monstrate their affectns ctom of ncealment is what ma the engagement party — lled a chkhoswe the Chichewa language — held at a lodge Blantyre so exceptnal. Their actns were not planned as any assertn of gay rights, they said. ” He add that Malawi was only one of 80 untri wh “homophobic laws, ” and said that even before the verdict, he had planned to go to Malawi next week, where “I will e the opportuny to raise the issue wh the print.

“You mt unrstand the culture and tradns of Malawi, and what the two did is taboo, ” he natn’s clergy have been uned nmng the gay uple. “God lls homosexualy an abomatn, which is greater than a simple s, ” the Rev. A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 6 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gay Couple Malawi Get Maximum Sentence of 14 Years Prison.

MALAWI URT NVICTS GAY UPLE

Outrage over their nvictns for gross cency and unnatural acts last month gave way to relief when the untry's print, Bgu wa Mutharika, eed them on "humanarian grounds" separatn was lled as a "tragedy" by one mpaigner who blamed on homophobic threats and abe. Monjeza, who faced fay hostily towards his prev relatnship wh Chimbalanga, said he no longer wanted to be associated wh homosexualy. I will rema a gay, " he told the Guardian.

"Monjeza was always a reluctant person this partnership, but they managed to get the waters tted and they have seen the waters are rough, " he former polil prisoner, who reprents the Associatn for Secular Humanism, said was now up to other gay men and women – who largely keep their sexualy private for fear of stigma and imprisonment – to pick up the baton and fight for their rights. "Malawi will never be the same on the gay issue, " he said. Peter Tatchell, of the gay rights group Outrage!, said: "It is a tragedy that homophobic threats and abe have forced this uple apart.

"Tatchell, who was munitn wh the uple for more than four months via prison visors he arranged, add: "Tiwonge and Steven never set out to be polil, but they have done more for gay and transgenr rights Malawi than anyone else. They have helped ntue the unfished Ain liberatn stggle by seekg eedom for gay, bisexual and transgenr Ains. Image ptn, Steven Monjeza (L) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (R) face 14 years jailA urt Malawi has nvicted a gay uple of gross cency and unnatural Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrted December 2009 after celebratg their engagement ahead of a weddg planned for 2010.

MALAWI GAY UPLE WHO 'MARRIED' FACE HARSH PRISON SENTENC

They have been jail ever sce and now face 14 years arrt had sparked ternatnal nmnatn and a bate about homosexualy the Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa nvicted both men of engagg gay sex, which he said was "agast the orr of nature". "Same-sex liaisons are owned upon Malawi, where homosexual acts are men had nied the charg and their lawyers said their nstutnal rights had been the Centre for the Development of People (Cep) and the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilatn (CHRR) have been urgg thori to relax the untry's stance on BBC's Raphael Tenthani Blantyre, Malawi's meril pal, says the ernment is also g unr prsure om Wtern donors over the a poor untry, 40% of whose velopment budget pends on donors, such ncerns mt be taken serly, he on this storyAround the BBCRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s. A man whose same-sex "marriage" has bee a symbol of the stggle for gay rights Ai has vowed to bee a martyr rather than give to homophobia, mpaigners say.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and his partner Steven Monjeza are facg a possible 14 years prison wh hard labour after beg the first gay uple Malawi to clare their mment a public ceremony Tatchell, the veteran Brish gay rights mpaigner, has mataed ntact wh the pair at the maximum secury Chichiri prison Blantyre as they prepare to stand trial next week. "Chimbalanga, 20, and Monjeza, 26, ma history when they mted to marriage at a symbolic ceremony last December – the first same-sex uple to do so the southern Ain state, where homosexual acts are days later, the uple were arrted at their home. "They have given this township a bad name, " said Maikolo Phiri, a lol Monjeza, an nt of Monjeza, said: "We as a fay have been terribly embarrassed to be associated wh this gay thg.

MALAWI GAY UPLE JAILED FOR CENCY, UNNATURAL ACTS

Homosexualy has an Orwellian visibily Malawi, where gay rights and transgenr activism was not merely supprsed but virtually non-existent.

MALAWI GAY UPLE NVICTED OF CENCY, UNNATURAL ACTS

Gee Thdwa, head of the Associatn for Secular Humanism, said: "The gay movement is gag ground. The untry should simply accept gays. "A retired enomist, Thdwa, who has not openly clared whether he is gay, add: "We are givg them moral support by brgg them food, money and cloth to prison.

The se uld be seen as a tt se for the stggle between gay rights movements and ristant nservative sentiment across the sex is still illegal 37 untri Ai.

GAY MALAWI UPLE SEPARATED PRISON

A recent poll by the Pew Rearch Centre found that 98% of people Cameroon, Kenya and Zambia disapprove of homosexualy. Gay and lbian liftyl are also much more assertivens is apparently beg met by a feroc backlash om relig fundamentalists and policians termed to prerve the stat quo.

It has been scribed as a proxy war between US liberals and Christian evangelils, both of which pour fundg and support to further their has bee a central battlefield after legislatn was proposed last year advotg punishments for gay sex that range om life imprisonment to the ath penalty.

That would be a important victory for anisatns such as Freedom and Roam Uganda (Fag) and Sexual Mori Uganda (Smug) Kalen of Fag, which was set up 2003, said: "I believe that now is the season and time for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr rights the ntent.

MALAWIAN GAY UPLE JAILED FOR 14 YEARS

"Asked if the gay rights lobby is rultg a surge of homophobia, Kalen add: "Y. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Sentence "sends a strong, unacceptable msage, " Amnty saysGay uple found guilty of gross cency, unnatural acts jailed for 14 yearsThey were charged unr Malawi's lonial-era sodomy lawsThe Malawi Law Society said prosecutn driven by prejudice (CNN) -- A gay uple Malawi, found guilty of gross cency and unnatural acts after they took part an "engagement ceremony, " was sentenced to 14 years prison Thursday. The arrts received some popular support the nservative southern Ain natn, but sparked nmnatn by gay rights activists.

Vio: Gay uple nvicted of cency. Trapence said the majory of Malawians supported the verdict, but feared the harsh sentence would ph much of the untry's gay muny further unrground.

" Decrimalizatn of homosexualy is key not only to the protectn of universal human rights, but is also "ccial to the urgent need to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, " he said. Homosexualy is illegal Malawi -- as is most Ain natns -- and ernment officials have said they are simply upholdg the law. " "Most people are repugnant towards homosexualy, " said Canaan Phiri, secretary general of the Malawi Council of Church.