Malawi: Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga are pardoned, but ...

A welcome pardon

I welcome the pardoning [1] of Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, who were given 14-year jail terms after being convicted of gross indecency and unnatural acts in Malawi by President Bingu wa Mutharika.

This was announced during the visit of the Secretary-General Ban ki Moon of the United Nations who probably had this matter on the table for discussion along with other UN matters that he might have discussed with the President.

The President said, “These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws, however, as the head of state I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions.”

Of culture, religion and laws

One might say that just because a majority follows a particular culture it could not be incumbent on the majority to impose with menace and aggression that culture on others who might not be so persuaded – on that point, the case against the young men was unfair.

We have to come to a point where the use of religion to abridge, abort or proscribe the beliefs or adherences of others must be frowned upon and condemned in the sternest terms, again, I am forced to drag up the ruling that presents that argument in the starkest possible words.

Lord Justice Laws said only a few weeks ago and that is the standard by which every society, community and people would be subjected to as our global village becomes smaller and every activity in the social realm receives global scrutiny.

The state’s thinking

“We do not live in a society where all the people share uniform religious beliefs. The precepts of any one religion – any belief system – cannot, by force of their religious origins, sound any louder in the general law than the precepts of any other. If they did, those out in the cold would be less than citizens and our constitution would be on the way to a theocracy, which is of necessity autocratic.”

“The law of a theocracy is dictated without option to the people, not made by their judges and governments. The individual conscience is free to accept such dictated law, but the state, if its people are to be free, has the burdensome duty of thinking for itself.”

In Malawi, it would appear that the state has thought for itself to have had the law that lead to that judgment imposed on the young men, but one does wonder if certain of our laws now pass the muster of respecting the rights of minorities, the different, the uncommon, the alternative and where they appear to do so, if respect also includes protection from menace meted out by people who have strong views against the liberal stance of living and letting live.

A guarantee of safety too?

This is the new chapter in the young men’s lives; having tasted with great opprobrium the almost martyrdom to a cause and a type of life or lifestyle we pretend does not exist in our midst, their release without conditions hopefully would not mean their release into the hands of the lynch mob.

The President’s humanitarian action would only be fully commendable if these young men can live in Malawi as free Malawians able to pursue their dreams and visions without sanction, discrimination or ill-will.

It is a big ask from a very conservative – and I use that word with reluctance – society, because in the true sense what passes for conservatism these days is really intolerance, bigotry, hatred and persecution of the right to free expression of self and the pursuit of happiness.

No prying on any life or lifestyle

I would that societies, cultures, countries or governments do not have to suffer the duress of global pressure to adopt a more liberal stance to accommodating minorities and difference, more so, the repeal of laws that deny the right to existence of minorities no matter the strength of feeling against such minorities has to be the best and correct direction for humanity and civilisation.

There is a public place for scrutiny and there is a private place for activities that have no victims where adults who have consented to entertain mature, meaningful, fulfilling and honourable lives – no state, no public, no religion, no culture, no tradition, no law or view should have the inalienable right to encroach on that private space for the sake of assuaging the sensibilities of the disgusted – Not in Malawi, not in Africa and not anywhere else where humanity has expression of life and purpose.

Source

[1] BBC News - Malawi pardons jailed gay couple

Other references

Malawi: Free Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga [akin.blog-city.com]

The case for State law over religious guidance [akin.blog-city.com]

Malawi: Free Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga

People like us

One should be outraged but it is with sadness that I read of the jailing of the Malawian gay couple [1] Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, who are being punished for having dared to conduct a engagement to bless a committed relationship.

I am of the view that everyone should be entitled to the pursuit of happiness in whatever pairing of relationship or absence of partnership that suits them – to deny that happiness on the basis of some moral import that prejudges difference as an abomination is unfortunate at best and savage at worst.

Rather than clamour for justice, let us examine what the judge had to say. At first he said he wanted protect the public from “people like you” – You, probably meaning homosexuals or people in unusual relationships that decide to have an engagement signifying commitment.

People like you

The full statement he made was, “I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public be protected from people like you, so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example.”

Then he said, "We are sitting here to represent the Malawi society, which I do not believe is ready at this point in time to see its sons getting married to other sons or conducting engagement ceremonies."

The mob that witnessed the judgment felt that the sentence was lenient but the facts of the matter are still too difficult for the people to face up to and accept.

Despite all the denials about there being homosexuals in Africa, the truth is homosexuality has been part of humanity ever before recorded history, it is neither Western, Eastern, African, Asian or tribal – it is a part of humanity - it is not alien to any culture, nation or race - it has always been part of every society until religious influences made indigenous traditions and differences from the "norm" inherently evil.

People like them

The other truth is whilst many Africans might not be bold enough to admit that they practice homosexuality there are quite a good many that profess to be bisexual or have entered the convenience of a public heterosexuality and a secretive homosexuality – a concept known as being on the down-low [2].

The sad aspect of this matter is the partners of these people either as wives or husbands who do not know that their beloved ones are loving rivals they cannot compete against on the side.

Enough studies have shown that engaging in heterosexual relationships does not create a permanent conversion from bisexuality or homosexuality – if that were a matter of basic choices, I am sure many would have rather adapted to the “norm” than be chastised for being different.

People like everyone

Here, we find that two young men have made the honest and bold choice not to live deceitful double-lives that could ruin the lives of partners and children alike but decided to celebrate their difference and in the process have been criminalised and penalised for it – it is both a shame and an injustice.

Rather than have the public protected from people like them, these people would go underground with their public and private lives whilst we all jolly on in denial and seemingly justifiable homophobia thinking the right has been done.

However, the most interesting part of the judge’s statement is that he recognises that the society is behind in the times, he opines that it is a matter of readiness and it calls on other people in the Malawian society who do not think their views are represented in this judgment to speak up and be spoken for.

People in love

For some, this engagement was before its time but the truth is same-sex relationship commitments would still take place in Malawi and every other corner of the world where hypocrisy, denial and homophobia appears to thrive – if loving and caring in a same-sex relationship be a crime greater than “loving”, abusing and battering in a heterosexual relationship we have our sense of justice wrong and our hypocrisy exposed with shame.

Free Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga today, they have wronged no one and committed no crimes, if we cannot tolerate difference then what gives each person a right, an identity and purpose in life is lost along with the basic sense of humanity.

Sources

[1] BBC News - Malawi gay couple get maximum sentence of 14 years

[2] Down-low (sexual slang) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia