Malawi’s new faith: Gay bashing…

On the cover of today’s “The Sunday Times,” one of Malawi’s principle newspapers, is a headline that reads, “Bingu Speaks Against Gayism”. The article goes on to note that the President described homosexuality as “as foreign culture and tradition that Malawians did not know before”. [The basis for the increased attention is a current legal battle in Malawi in response to the arrest and subsequent jailing of 2 gay men for holding a marriage ceremony. The crime of homosexuality, alone, is punished with 14 years in prison; the marriage punishment appears, so far, to be torture and life in prison].

The article continues by noting that the President, a devout Catholic, referred to homosexuality as “un-Malawian” and suggested that homosexuality is practiced by people who had Satan sitting on their heads, thus causing men to wish to marry other men. But it gets better! The Secretary General of the Muslim Association of Malawi, not wanting to be left out or presumed to hold accepting attitudes towards homosexuals, opened the Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association annual meeting by telling his fellow clergymen that “Malawi would be doomed if homosexuality is legalized”. He continued his remarks by noting that Malawi “is a purified nation” and that both “national and international disasters are caused by God’s wrath because of man’s sins such as homosexuality.” Who knew gay people had such power? The Vice-President, attending the conference, said nothing (which I consider a blessing).

The response from those in support of gay rights, or human rights, has been……(hello? anyone out there?)…severely muted. The Director of LGBT issues at Human Rights Watch did issue a letter to President Bingu urging him to respect human rights and stop the alleged torture of the two gay men while in jail. Other donors are threatening to reduce or stop funding if human rights violations continue.

The opinion pieces in the newspaper today (headline: "Human Rights Watch's Letter on Homos Is:...") assert that this letter and donor responses cross the line [colonialism!], are undemocratic [how dare they address the president and not the judges], and that these men are not human anyway [if you are not a part of the majority, you are not given rights].

The local, supposedly gay rights organization, oddly named the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), is to hold a 2-day meeting for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) to discuss a road map of action to decrease stigma and discrimination. The address of the meeting is posted in the paper. Now, you tell me: how high do you think attendance will be?

The men return to court on Wednesday.