In what may come to be the first steps in a landmark move for LGBT rights in Africa, Malawian President Joyce Banda has announced plans to repeal laws which currently criminalize homosexual activity in the southeast African country.
Speaking at her first address to the nation as President, following the death of previous incumbent Bingu wa Mutharika, Banda declared that “Some laws which were duly passed by the August House […] will be repealed as a matter of urgency […] these include the provisions regarding indecent practices and unnatural acts.”
Whilst this may be a hugely significant step for any African government to make, such a repeal would make Malawi only the second African nation to adopt such a policy. South Africa has had a policy protecting LGBT rights enshrined in law since its post-apartheid constitution came into being in 1996. In fact, it was one of the first countries in the world to legalize gay marriage in 2006.
That said, whilst the law may be designed to protect gay rights, it can do little to affect change in the conscious of a nation where LGBT people are still serially stigmatized. One only has to consider the vile phenomenon of ‘corrective rape’ that has been inflicted upon a number of South African lesbians, the most well known of whom was former international footballer Eudy Simelane, who was gang raped and stabbed to death in 2008 as a result of her proudly publicized orientation. Others to have suffered at the hands of barbaric attitudes towards LGBT people include the 6 men who were murdered by a homophobic serial killer in Johannesburg in 2010-11, including HIV-positive TV presenter Jason Wessenaar Whilst these examples are extreme, they are indicative of the prejudices that are faced in the so-called ‘rainbow nation’.
President Banda’s people may well incur similar stigmatization. In 2010, under the governance of Mutharika, two men, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for daring to declare their love for one another publically. Whilst the president later pardoned them, this was less due to a shift in attitudes as a visit from UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. The ordeal and media exposure later drove Chimbalanga to immigrate to Canada amid continuing threats to his safety. Chimbalanga & Monjeza were sentenced to 14 years before it was later revoked
It must be hoped that President Banda’s moves towards legalization are not more political posturing. In November 2011, David Cameron said at a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting that the UK may consider cutting aid to nations who have poor track records of promoting LGBT rights. Given that the vast majority of Malawi’s budget is made up of aid, it makes sense politically and financially for Banda to position herself, and her nation, as promoting LGBT rights. It must also be noted that whilst David Cameron’s stance might seem admirable, Malawi and many other Commonwealth nations had never had anti-homosexual laws of any kind until towards the end of British colonial rule in the 1930s.
Such headlines are typical of the negative attitudes surrounding the LGBT community in Malawi
On the day that Monjeza and Chimbalanga were handed their sentences, the judge had told them, “Malawi is not ready to see its sons getting married to its sons.” If Joyce Banda has the perseverance to persist at truly promoting LGBT rights within Malawi, it could become a beacon for all Africa in promoting equality. If one of the most impoverished nations on the continent can lead by example, surely that bodes well for the LGBT community in Africa long-term?
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