Ethics

Gay in Malawi? 14 Years in Prison

By Ed Brayton

Here's an appalling story from Malawi, where two lovers have been convicted of the "crime" of being gay and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

A gay couple in Malawi were found guilty on Tuesday of unnatural acts and gross indecency, the consequence of their holding an engagement ceremony in an insular nation where homosexuality is largely seen as nonexistent or something that must be suppressed.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 33, and Steven Monjeza, 26, face up to 14 years in prison. A magistrate said he would sentence the men on Thursday.

Uganda and Nigeria must be thinking, "14 years in prison? Damn liberals and their soft-on-crime policies."

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 24, 2010 (boomark / email).