Doing the right thing
It’s hard to believe that gay people in the UK have come such a long way. Not everyone can claim the rights that we have right now: the right to civil partnerships, the right to our partners’ pensions, inheritance rights and so on. It was only two years ago that France was forced to discard discriminatory practices with relation to same-sex adoption. And members of our community in the US are still fighting for the basic recognition of their rights. Knowing that our biggest threat is Theresa May is scary, but we can at least sleep at night knowing that we won’t be dragged out of our homes, tossed in front of a show-trial court and imprisoned – or worse – for the crime of loving someone.
Like I said, not everyone can claim those rights.
In Malawi last week, a judge sentenced an LGBT couple to fourteen years in prison. Their crime? Well, you read the LGBT part, right? Last year in December, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monzeja committed themselves to each other in a symbolic marriage ceremony. I say symbolic because, of course, homosexuality is illegal in Malawi. And last week, their bravery was rewarded with convictions for buggery (or ‘unnatural acts and gross indecency’) and the prison sentences described above.
I’m not going to pontificate on the heroism these two LGBT Malawians displayed. I’m not going to describe what happened in detail or work through the ins-and-outs of the legal decision. But I feel sometimes that as a community, we’ve forgotten where we’ve come from. All too often, we forget that everything we have now, we fought for. The right to civil partnership, adoption rights, parental rights, the right not to be classified insane or mentally unfit and sectioned, the right to not have our relationships classified as a crime. I’m not saying that this is right, but it’s a fact. And so it’s important to keep fighting, to stand up and be counted until everyone has the rights that we do.
On May 29th, this Saturday, there will be a protest outside the Malawian High Commission in support of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monzeja. Facebook invite is here. See you there?
oh very interesting. yes i was thinking about that recently, how what we’ve got in London is pretty bloody good. I was counting cities worldwide where it was good to be gay and came up with 10. Cities where it is physically dangerous to be gay would be dozens and dozens and then there are lots, even in the UK where it’s just difficult or awkward and something you can’t be open about.
that’s why the internet is good – lets you spread subversion and get messages out there to places where it’s suppressed. though as always, i guess the people most in need don’t exactly have personal laptops with broadband.
My home country has a minimum prison sentence of fourteen years for practising the act of homosexuality. In the muslim dominated states you’re more likely to be taken outside and stoned to death under sharia law. Although born and raised in London, I never once forget that the liberties I enjoy here as a young gay female, would have me incarcerated or killed elsewhere. Sometimes I find the level of solidarity exhibited by the general LGBT community in developed nations slightly underwhelming. But then some of the freedoms we enjoy and take for granted were fought for by previous generations and so prison sentences and the like aren’t really our reality. When I think about the battles still being fought in other parts of the world for the right to be with someone you love it puts things in perspective, the lesbo drama that seems to go hand in hand with the London gay scene looks like a frigging indulgence. Thanks for posting this.
It’s important to point out and respect that, although Stephen and Tiwonge were convicted as a gay couple, Tiwonge identifies as a woman and has chosen a female name. You can see her wearing a head wrap and dress in their wedding photos. Of course this doesn’t change their situation or the activism we must take part in, but perhaps it’s best to refer to them as an LGBT couple rather than as a gay couple.
I wasn’t sure whether Tiwonge identified as female, which is why I refrained from using gender specific pronouns. I do tend to throw the word gay around pretty loosely, but you’re right. I’ll edit it to be more accurate. Thank you for pointing that out!
I thought you might have deliberately avoided pronouns :) Here’s a blog post http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2010/05/malawian.html and a video http://www.youtube.com/user/GenderDynamiX which talk about her gender identity. The video is of a protest for them which happened in South Africa – worth a watch for that, it’s inspiring.