Malawi Lovers Jailed for Love

By Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
May 25, 2010

As if the homophobic proposals (to kill gays) in the Ugandan legislature weren't bad enough--at least they are only proposals at this time--now comes the incredible action taken by a judicial court in Malawi to imprison at hard labor two gay male lovers, Tiwonge and Steven (photo), who were bold and foolish enough to attempt a marriage to one another.

After being in a grubby jail since last December, they were finally put on trial and of course were convicted of illegal and immoral un-African behavior in early May 2010.

This speaks to the worst in human nature and shames the justice Malawian system--a system packed with ignorance about sexuality and about love between people. I find such intellectual darkness frightening because it's the same kind of blindness that has caused untold millions of deaths in Africa from tribal hatred, political warfare and religious carnage. Death is the voice of hate. In this case hate turned against a sexual minority in the form of two innocent boyfriends.

It is irrational thinking beyond anything I have personally known, although I am very aware of similar fanatical hostility toward LGBT people at various Gay Pride events, especially in Eastern Europe where skinheads attack peaceful gay marchers with verbal abuse, stones and grenades.

Homophobia is right up there with tribal rivalry as among the last 'social frontiers' of uncivilized action yet to be overcome. The cruelty that emerges from these forms of prejudice confounds all reason and progress toward a just and humane world.

How a sitting judge, supposedly versed in the objectivity of civil laws, can be so barbaric and swayed by vulgar popular opinion and emotion to render his blatantly cruel sentence of 14 years against Tiwonge and Steven; this is beyond the pale. Their offense harmed no one; it was a technical violation of a Malawi (highly homophobic) law deserving perhaps of a modest fine to assert the rule of law, unjust as it may be..

Bribery is a dishonest and dirty way to do business or politics but in this case I would gladly shuffle money under the table to secure their release. Seeing honest people rot in jail for dishonest reasons is un-African. Hatred is un-African value. This judge has violated all standards of civilized behavior in his role as 'justice' provider. Malawi deserves better. Tiwonge and Steven deserve better. They deserve freedom and each other's love.

14 Years Jail for Malawi Gay Couple is "Brutal"

Posted by Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
May 20, 2010

14 years for Malawi couple is "brutal"--Jailed men could die in squalid prison--Only hope for Steven and Tiwonge is appeal to the High Court

By Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Activist

London -
"This is an appalling, vindictive and brutal sentence, which tramples on Malawi's constitution, violates personal privacy and reverses the country's commitment to human rights.

"Steven and Tiwonge love each other and have harmed no one. Yet they get a sentence more severe than some rapists, armed robbers and killers.

"With so much hatred and violence in Malawi, it is sick that the court has jailed these two men for loving and caring for each other.

"The sentence echoes the era of dictatorship under President Hastings Banda, when personal prejudices determined law enforcement, and when individual rights were crushed and dissenters persecuted," said London-based human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of the gay rights group OutRage!.

He was commenting on the 14 year jail sentence for homosexuality, which was handed down today against Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga in Blantyre, Malawi.

Mr Tatchell has been supporting and advocating for the jailed men since their arrest and detention in December last year; helping arrange prison visits and the delivery of food parcels, medicine, letters of support and clothes to the detained men.

"Fourteen years with hard labour could kill Steven and Tiwonge. Prison conditions are appallingly unhealthy," he said.

"Detainees die in custody. Infectious diseases like TB are rife. Medical treatment is sub-standard. Food rations are very poor nutritional value; mostly maize porridge, beans and water, causing malnutrition. After only five months behind bars, Steven has been seriously ill and has not received proper medical treatment."

Commenting on the verdict, Mr Tatchell added:

"The judge has violated Article 20 of Malawi's own constitution, which guarantees equal treatment and non-discrimination to all citizens. The law under which they were convicted is a discriminatory law that only applies to same-sex relations. It is unconstitutional. The law in Malawi is not supposed to discriminate.

"Malawi's anti-gay laws were not devised by Malawians. They were devised in London in the nineteenth century and imposed on the people of Malawi by the British colonisers and their army of occupation. Before the British came and conquered Malawi, there were no laws against homosexuality. These laws are a foreign imposition. They are not African laws.

"I expect both men will appeal against the verdict and sentence. Steven and Tiwonge's best hope is that a higher court will overturn this unjust, cruel verdict; although a more positive outcome on appeal is uncertain, given the high-level homophobia that exists in Malawian society, including among the judiciary.

"The magistrate was biased from outset. He refused the two men bail, which is very unusual in cases of non-violent offences. In Malawi, bail is normal. It is often granted to thieves and violent criminals. Denying Steven and Tiwonge bail was an act of vindictiveness.

"I appeal to governments worldwide, especially the South African government, to condemn this harsh, bigoted judgement and to urge its reversal," said Mr Tatchell.

Prior to the verdict, Tiwonge and Steven issued a defiant message from their prison cell. It affirmed their love for each other and thanked their supporters in Malawi and worldwide.

Tiwonge said: "I love Steven so much. If people or the world cannot give me the chance and freedom to continue living with him as my lover, then I am better off to die here in prison. Freedom without him is useless and meaningless."

"We have come a long way and even if our family relatives are not happy, I will not and never stop loving Tiwonge," said Steven.

The two men's messages were relayed from inside Chichiri Prison in Blantyre, Malawi, to Peter Tatchell of the LGBT human rights group OutRage! in London, England.

Tiwonge and Steven stressed their gratitude for the support they have received from fellow Malawians and from people around the world:

"We are thankful for the people who have rallied behind us during this difficult time. We are grateful to the people who visit and support us, which really makes us feel to be members of a human family; otherwise we would feel condemned," said Tiwonge.

Steven added: "All the support is well appreciated. We are grateful to everybody who is doing this for us. May people please continue the commendable job...Prison life is very difficult."

Peter Tatchell expressed his admiration of the two men:
"Steven and Tiwonge are showing immense fortitude and courage. They declared their love in a society where many people - not all - are very intolerant and homophobic. This was a very brave thing to do. Although suffering in prison, they are unbowed. They continue to maintain their love and affirm their human right to be treated with dignity and respect," said Mr Tatchell.

"They have taken a pioneering stand for the right to love. They love each other, have harmed no one and believe that love should not be a crime. It is nobody's business what they do in the privacy of their own home. There is no evidence that they have committed any crime under Malawian law. They should never have been put on trial. Even prior to their conviction, they had already spent nearly five months behind bars.

"OutRage! is supporting Steven and Tiwonge. For the last four months, we have arranged extra food to supplement the men's meagre, poor quality prison rations.

"We pay tribute to the other people and organisations who are giving legal and medical assistance to the detained men. This is a huge help. Steven and Tiwonge have asked me to communicate their appreciation," said Mr Tatchell.

Sixty-seven British MPs have signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion (EDM 564), which condemns the arrest and trial of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga.
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=40143&SESSION=903


Amnesty International has adopted Steven and Tiwonge as Prisoners of Conscience:
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=682

Until quite recently Steven and Tiwonge did not realise that they had been adopted as Prisoners of Conscience by Amnesty International. When this news was relayed to them in prison they were, to quote one source: "Very happy with the effort made by Amnesty International to accord them this status. They offer their thanks to Amnesty."

Tiwonge and Steven have also expressed appreciation for the protest on their behalf in London on 22 March this year.

See photos of the protest here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/outrage/sets/72157623672689772/

See videos of the protest here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Malawi+protest+london&aq=f

The two men thanked London-based African and British activists who have lobbied the Malawian Ambassador and the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Human Rights Unit to seek their release and to secure medical treatment for Steven.

Steven's condition has stabilised but he remains very ill. He is thin and weak and has jaundiced eyes, according to an eye-witness who saw him last weekend.

Tiwonge and Steven are urging continued protests to "get our release and the dropping of charges by the Malawi government."


Write a letter to Steven and Tiwonge

Help boost their spirits. Show them you care. Send a letter or postcard of support to Steven and Tiwonge. In this difficult time, they need to know that people around the world love and support them. Write to:
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, Prisoners, Chichiri Prison, P.O.Box 30117, Blantyre 3, Malawi

-----------------------------

Constitution of Malawi - Article 20:

Discrimination of persons in any form is prohibited and all persons are...guaranteed equal and effective protection against discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, nationality, ethnic or social origin, disability, property, birth or other status.

"Or other status" means on other grounds, which includes sexual orientation.

See here:
http://www.icrc.org/IHL-NAT.NSF/162d151af444ded44125673e00508141/4953f2286ef1f7c2c1257129003696f4/$FILE/Constitution%20Malawi%20-%20EN.pdf


African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights - Articles 2, 3 and 4:

Article 2
Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status.

Article 3
1. Every individual shall be equal before the law. 2. Every individual shall be entitled to equal protection of the law.

Article 4
Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.

See here:
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar.htm

Confirmation of Malawi's signature, ratification and accession
http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/List/African%20Charter%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples%20Rights.pdf

Further information: Peter Tatchell (London) + 44 (0)207 403 1790

Outrageous Jail Sentencing for Gay Lovers in Malawi

Posted by Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
May 2010

From:Chivuli Ukwimi, Health and Human Rights Officer, IGLHRC
Cape Town (cukwimi@iglhrc.org)
and
Dunker Kama, Administrator, CEDEP
Blantyre, Malawi (shorinjkenpo@yahoo.co.uk)

Capetown, South Africa
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Malawi Center for the Development of People (CEDEP) are outraged by the sentence of 14 years with hard labour imposed today by a Malawian court on Tiwonge ("Tionge") Chimbalanga (20) and Steven Monjeza (26). The Magistrate's Court in Blantyre imposed the maximum sentence following the conviction of the two on May 18 for "unnatural offences" and "indecent practices between males" under Sections 153 and 156 of the Malawi Penal Code.

"This harsh sentence compounds the impact of an already unjust conviction," said Chivuli Ukwimi, IGLHRC Health and Human Rights Officer. "Its devastating effect on Steven and Tionge is just the beginning. It will endanger lives by driving at-risk communities underground, beyond the reach of programs to address HIV and AIDS."

In his ruling, Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa stated, "The engagement and the living together as husband and wife of the two accused persons, who are both males, transgresses the Malawian recognized standards of propriety since it does not recognize the living of a man with another as husband and wife. Both these acts were acts of gross indecency." These views were similar to those expressed by the State Prosecutor, Barbara Mchenga, who asked the court to "consider the scar this offence will leave on our morality."

Dunker Kama, Administrator of CEDEP, responded by stating, "There is nothing immoral or indecent about love. The only thing immoral or indecent is throwing innocent people in jail for more than a decade."

The harsh sentence sends a negative message to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Malawians who already face discrimination and persecution. It is also likely to have an adverse effect on much needed efforts to address HIV and AIDS.

"The government of Malawi has double standards," said Gift Trapence, CEDEP Director. "Its own national strategic framework on HIV/AIDS includes men who have sex with men. Now, it is imprisoning them."

This case and the criminalization of homosexuality in the Malawi Penal code amount to a violation of the human rights and protections to which Malawi is ostensibly committed through its own constitution and the regional and international human rights treaties to which it is party.

IGLHRC and CEDEP will continue to support Monjeza and Chimbalanga, including an appeal of this verdict and the repeal of all laws that unjustly discriminate against LGBT Malawians.

Gay Pride Attacked in Belarus

Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
May 15, 2010

Saturday May 15 2010, gay Pride day in Minsk, Balarus, arrived and there were no unusual surprises: trouble was anticipated and trouble there was.

The gay participants knew the police would try to stop them. The police knew where the marchers were and intercepted them--but not before the combined rights activists from Moscow and St Petersburg joined the Belarus activists to unfurl a big rainbow flag, about 8 meters long (25 feet), and carry it along one of the main streets for a short distance. A few other participants unfurled their own smaller flags so the dozens of reporters and photographers from local and international press could take photos and have short interviews. Read more details from Logan Mucha's report.

Events happened quickly once the police came into contact with the rights celebrants. The black uniformed troops jumped out of their trucks and quickly grabbed the big flag away from the marchers and spirited it away as other black shirts began arresting people (marchers and protesters) and shoving them into the trucks.

Reports vary about the actual number of people arrested but it was generally known there were fewer than 15 marcher arrests. One report said about the same number of skinheads were arrested. See this filmed report from Naviny.by.

Diplomats were called and the usual shuffle of affairs to get the arrested activists released although the Russian embassy basically said to the Russian participants "you're on your own since you are in another country and under their laws."

Symbolic of the corrupt and inefficient governance in Belarus is that eight of those arrested and detained were told by the police that they (the police) did not have petrol in their vans and could not take them to the assigned detention center where they were supposed to remain until the court hearing! Instead they were told that they would be released with a stern warning to show up in court on Monday. (This changed later when gasoline was mysteriously found and the captives were moved to a detention center until Monday.)

No one was seriously injured although folks were bashed around and handled roughly. More details can be read at the Reuters website.

The important issue of this broken event was less to do with waving flags and giving speeches and claiming human rights for LGBT people. But more to do with raising international awareness of human rights abuses, discrimination and homophobia in Belarus; to embarrass the government into paying attention to these issues and to homosexual Belarussian citizens. The current government is generally repressive, headed by a former Soviet apparatchik who governs the country in the dictatorial Soviet manner. There is little chance for gay rights to make headway other than to make trouble and use the press to raise LGBT voices loud enough to be even slightly heard in the government.

Part of that effort to embarrass and shame the authorities was the screening of the documentary called Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride (see the summary trailer here) which displays the stark difference between repressive countries toward gays and the liberated countries as seen through gay Pride parades, from Vancouver to Sri Lanka to Moscow, among others.

Later in the night of Saturday there was a party planned at Minsk's only gay club. Police surrounded the place to allow the party and to protect the people inside from the protesters on the outside. Eight people are still in custody until Monday but the Slavic Awards will be made tonight at the party. Then all will go home sometime to sleep and wake up to a quiet Sunday morning Minsk, as if nothing had happened.

Belarus has shamed itself. Although it can pretend to ignore a handful of queer crackpots waving flags, the symbolic meaning of Saturday will ripple across the borders to political and rights leaders who care about equality and human rights. The day will stand in Pride history and as a stain upon a morally corrupt government that will someday fall as human rights continues its slow and victorious march across homophobic and repressive Eastern Europe.

The Disease of Homophobia

Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
Mat 14, 2010

Hopefully some day coming out won’t be such a big deal and won’t be news--or do we gay (LGBT people) secretly like the rush of notoriety, the fuss, the ‘news worthy’ event, by appearing to win one more to our club, gaining over the homophobes and discovering the inside thrill of breaking into freedom.

In Iraq or Palestine coming out will get you killed. But in the West it would appear that it’s no big deal.

So why the headlines when an entertainer or movie star comes out: singer Ricky Martin and actress Cynthia Nixon (photo below left) recently announced publicly they are gay. Big deal or not?

Greg Louganis, Matthew Mitcham (photo right) are famous athletes who came out, not with a bang but with whispers and gossip, not willing but not unwilling. Others were infamously outed in the press with some fanfare and scandal: “did you hear about Ted Haggard!?”

The Wall Street Journal considers coming out as noteworthy news: When Your Teenager Says She's Gay.

Coming out, regardless how it’s done, willing or unwilling, is a kind of rebirth from fear and hiding into truth and honesty. It’s a gay version of a bar/bat mitzvah going from child to adult; a step away from shame toward integrity. Even Haggard can be more honest—even while trying to affirm his “heterosexual side.”

Coming out is no small event; it’s a major rite of passage to declare oneself different from one’s family tradition, from hetero society, from religious conservancy. The world shifts for a person when they come out. There’s no going back to ‘normal’. The cut is made and can’t be undone. It’s an irreversible stage of growing up, from victim to victor.

But unlike other natural changes (voice change, crevice hair, height growth, sexual awareness) this one takes courage to embrace in most cases because of toxic social homophobia that muddles nearly all cultures with a historic pale of forbidding and cursing from long-ago, mostly based on vague religious origins that fundamentalists
now take as ‘gospel truth’.

Such blind belief, buried in mystery and codified into sanctimonious absolutes and legal codes--without close examination of the validity of the sources--is another wonder of human nature: to believe that myth is truth, that fiction is fact, that sexual varieties don’t exist, that women are less; that Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha had direct links to the Divine. All are myths solidified by habitual unquestioned retelling and surrounded by officious systems.

Human sexuality is probably one of humanity’s most mysterious and fearful forces because it exposes in overt behavior the deepest covert feelings and hidden urges of an individual. Sex reveals secrets. Observe the numerous fundamentalist male preachers who are caught with their pants down with an escort. Observe the Catholic priests imposing sexual pleasure on under-age parishioners. (photo left Cynthia Nixon with fiancee Christine Marinoni)

And it’s not just the church folks who protest too much. Homosexuality is being portrayed as a disease by notable people featured in this week’s tabloids. Anti-gay Christian activist George Rekers who has been ‘involved’ with a younger man is vehemently denying such charges: “I will fight these false reports
because I have not engaged in any homosexual behavior whatsoever. I am not gay and never have been...” (He should bite more than dust for his hypocrisy and also should be pitied for the soulful anguish his internal homophobia is causing him to suffer.)

Followed today by Elizabeth Taylor’s verbal offense against Michael Jackson’s former doctor who outed Jackson.

Such use of sexual orientation as a weapon of hostility and derogatory slander are pathetic in their shallowness and ignorance. It’s like trying to degrade a person for having freckles. Ridiculous.

Sexual desire trumps just about everything—wealth, religion, race, fame, power. Where are these predators coming from in their deep souls to fabricate such facades or auras of lies about their essential craven truth? Hiding sexual desire behind the mask of religious garb is a most shameful form of toxic internal homophobia. (Hate who you are but don’t hate others by victimizing them.)

Coming out would ‘cure’ the abuse and hypocrisy of closeted clerical cravings. Something like ‘the truth will set you free’. What do we lose by coming out? We lose a lie, a false identity, an ill-fitting mask of conformity.

In these modern times, we are seeing that the great trauma is less about revealing who we really are and more about the disease of social homophobia. We are highly social creatures and sometimes that’s not a good thing; society can kill gays, spiritually and physically. (See also how homophobic-tinged ("Hey, Speedo-boy...!") bullying drove UK Olympic diver Tom Daley to quit his school.) (photo right)

Another aphorism underlies the integrity of coming out: to thine own self be true...and it follows thou canst not be false to any man. No need to lie; how good does that feel!

Religious Fairy Tales vs Gay Marriage

Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
May 13, 2010

Today’s news brought a hysterically horrid report about the Pope in Portugal. He called for pastoral action to tackle abortion and same-sex marriage, which he called "some of today's most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good".

(Insidious means: harmful but enticing; seductive; having a gradual and cumulative effect; spreading harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner.)

These vile words came as he spoke at the famous Fatima shrine, Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, one of the most revered sites in Catholicism.

The basilica (photo right) was built to commemorate alleged events of 1917 when three shepherd peasant children claimed to have had a vision of the "Virgin of the Rosary", (Our Lady of Fátima). The little children experienced the purported ‘Marian apparitions’ in a nearby sheep pasture. Strangely, people believed them and today millions of Catholics flock to the site in search of miracle cures and to worship there.

I find it incredulous that a modern Christian mind whose job it is to have compassion in the world for real human conditions could have such devout faith in unproven non-human fairy tales told by naive shepherd boys--and at the same time discredit real-life authentic love between two adults.

What’s terribly wrong with this picture!?

The Pope has no clue what gay marriage is and doesn’t want to know. He refuses to accept that it’s about love. That it’s a ceremony of devotion and commitment between two same-sex adults in the non-airy-fairy working world finding realistic ways to enhance each other’s daily lives.

The challenge is whether to attend to imaginary mythology or real life love? The choice seems so obvious as to not be a choice. Yet this supposed religious leader who wishes the world to be a better place, chooses to favor magical mysteries over real hands-on goodness in action.

The world will not be a better place until such influential leaders dressed in spotless while linen clothing and gold rings gives up his lofty spiritual myths, throws off his sterile robes and lives among the poor laying bricks and seeing the validity in all forms of human love.

He would rather protect sexual criminals in order to maintain hypocritical clerical ‘purity’ (talk about insidious!) than to recruit openly loving gay and lesbian adults into the church and bless them with marriage.

Farewell to a Friend Dying Too Young

Richard Ammon
The Pines, Fire Island
Long Island, New York
May 8, 2010

This is where the gay boys are housed in their trendy unpainted wood and glass mansionettes surrounded by scrub oaks, wooden sidewalks, sandy beaches and testosterone. It takes a ferry to get here and much money to stay; it's definitely a place for upscale gay males and their less affluent friends, including weekend toy boys. In the small harbor float half a dozen luxury yachts belonging to the really rich.

But I was not there for the scene and neither were the other 15 guys and one woman who gathered one weekend in May at Steven's house on Neptune boardwalk. It was a party of sorts, except the guest of honor was not there. Conrad died a few months ago in Bali. Only his ashes remained, transported here by his 'widowed' partner, Michael, in a carved wooden box (from Indonesia, of course).

Conrad and Michael were a gay couple living in Bangkok (photo left)--busy, compatible, productive and sociable. They loved long-distance living. Suddenly Conrad’s heart stopped. He was 62.

I knew Conrad since he was 18 and I was 26 at Tufts University but we had lost contact for years--resolved with a happy reunion last year in Bangkok, with Michael.

Reaching that far back into personal history is only possible with a rare friend who remembers shared vague moments, fragmented images or fumbling and forgotten passions. It’s a special reach back into the misty swamp of memory that only historical friendship can evoke.

I like the crashing feeling of being yanked backward 40 years to forgotten-yet-not places, people and action normally crusted over with time and re-awakened suddenly with a youth-charged old friend who speaks names and feelings and carnal moments of long ago. Conrad and I did that on our last visit.

Now those particular memory streams that he could re-awaken are silenced. I don’t mind the loss of those memories but I do mind losing him.

Surviving partner Michael (photo right) arranged everything perfectly for the memorial weekend--rooms at neighbors' houses, communal dinners at Steven's and the boat to take us out to sea to spread the ashes, followed by strewn flowers from the friends on deck. The weather was quite fine: some scattered clouds, sunshine, calm winds, warm early May. (A storm followed a while later.)

Michael held open the silken bag and the ashes fell to the sea. It seemed such a simple end to a life that was complex, adventurous, unique--now dust. As I age, illness and death encroach on one friend after another, one family member at a time. I don’t much like it. I’d like my favorite and long-distance friends, lovers, parents and chosen family to answer the phone when I call.

But the way of the world is not my will; there’s only the fading echo of their voices and the ashes in the wake.

Sic transit gloria mundi. (everything changes)