When a man marries another man or a woman marries another woman, it sounds very abnormal for every reason. It’s unacceptable and wrong, and no argument will make it right because it is simply madness.
Recognition of same-sex unions
On 17 April 2015, the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Law came into force and banned all same-sex marriages and unions. While the law was praised for raising the minimum age of heterosexual marriages from 16 to 18, it was at the same time condemned for the exclusion of homosexual couples and for its language stating that one’s gender is assigned at birth. The new law does not allow people who have undergone gender reassignment surgery to marry someone of that person’s prior gender and also draws comparisons of gay sex to rape and sexual harassment.
Living conditions
In July 2005, Reverend Dr. Nick Henderson was elected by the Lake Malawi diocese to serve as its bishop, but conservative members challenged the election. In December, the Anglican Church of Central Africa (ACCA) overturned the election. According to Archbishop Bernard Malango, who led the ACCA, “He has actively demonstrated that he was not of sound faith—that’s what the Court of Confirmation decided.” The bishops concluded that Henderson’s involvement with the Modern Church, which supported LGBT rights, made him “unsuitable.” A four-year struggle by laity and priests to overturn the ACCA’s decision then ensued. The matter was eventually settled when Henderson asked his supporters to agree to the election of the Venerable Francis Kaulanda as bishop. Kaulanda had been one of Henderson’s sabbatical study priests.
In September 2009, Mary Shawa, secretary for nutrition, HIV, and AIDS in the president’s office, argued that Malawi must give gay people access to HIV and AIDS services. She said, “There is a need to incorporate a human rights approach in the delivery of HIV and AIDS services to such risk groups like men who have sexual intercourse with men if we have to fight AIDS.”
In February 2010, Peter Sawali was arrested for putting up posters on a busy road in Blantyre that read “Gay rights are human rights.” He was charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to clean the premises of Blantyre Magistrates Court for 60 days.
In April 2010, President Bingu wa Mutharika condemned acts of homosexuality. He said, “Malawians are even copying cultures they do not understand. They are saying a man should marry a fellow man. This is evil and bad in the eyes of God. There are certain things we Malawians just do not do.”
In July 2011, Undule Mwakasungula, the chairperson of the Human Rights Consultative Committee, and Gift Trapence, executive director of the Centre for Development of People, reportedly went into hiding after being threatened with arrest for treason. President Mutharika was quoted as saying, “I will hunt you in your homes. You will not hide, I will smoke you out, muziwanso. You should go back to your fathers and mothers from the West, who have sent you.” Two months earlier, George Chaponda, Malawi’s Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, claimed that recent withdrawals of foreign aid by various countries were the fault of Mwakasungula and Trapence. He said, “The country is suffering because of the conduct of some leaders of civil society. Those people are not patriotic. Some donors have withdrawn their aid, and everybody is suffering.”
Conclusion
I support the mindset against homosexuality in African society, especially among Malawians. I stand by the penal code of the laws of Malawi that whoever behaves in such a manner should be arrested.
I also support the ridicule against homosexuality that comes from the Malawian community because that is one way of teaching people to live in the correct way. Humans can think and behave better than animals, and not the other way around.
*Views in this article are those of the author but not of Malawi24.
