RIGHTS-MALAWI: Gays Fear That Bishop Row Will Have Ripple Effect

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Frank Phiri

BLANTYRE, Nov 7 2003 (IPS) - For Madalo and Trevin, a gay couple in Malawi, the romance began in 1997 during a holiday break at the country’s best-known tourist attraction. Trevin, a laid-back 34-year-old, had joined the band-wagon of South African tourists seeking the sun and sand of Lake Malawi.

A week after his arrival, he met Madalo at Doo Gles, a club in the commercial capital – Blantyre – that is said to be favourite gay hangout. With Madalo as tour guide, the two set off for Cape Maclear, a beach village that acts as a magnet for backpackers.

“That’s how it all began,” recalled Madalo, in an interview with IPS.

Three decades of dictatorship in Malawi under the late Kamuzu Banda (from 1964 to 1994) created a society with conservative leanings – and the two men (who asked for their real names to be withheld) were careful to keep their relationship a secret.

However, they now fear that men suspected of being gay will be placed under greater scrutiny – this as shockwaves from the recent consecration of a gay bishop in the United States make themselves felt in Africa. Earlier this week, Gene Robinson was appointed as bishop of the state of New Hampshire by the Episcopal Church – the U.S. arm of the Anglican Church.

Madalo says the couple’s major source of concern is the “noise” some clerics have been making recently about homosexuality. In particular, he refers to the banner headline in a local paper this week, about the stand that the Anglican Church in Malawi has taken on the Robinson controversy.

Malawi’s Anglican Church heads the 600,000 strong Anglican faithful in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana, and the four countries make up the Central African Province of the church.

Anglican clerics in Malawi hope to persuade the other three countries to cut ties with the Episcopal Church in the wake of Robinson’s consecration. “We maintain our position that we’re against gay practices in the church,” provincial secretary Reverend Father Martin M’geni told IPS.

“We expect to come up with our position regarding our ties later this month. We’re taking our time, to give members enough time to make up their minds,” he added.

Madalo and Trevin say that being publicly “outed” would probably lead to discrimination against them. Their fears appeared to be echoed by other gays who refused to be interviewed by IPS.

“It now means keeping a very low profile,” Madalo says.

“Maybe spending most of our time in South Africa,” chips in Trevin, who says that gays and lesbians have relative peace of mind there.

South Africa is very much the exception to the rule as far as gay rights in Africa are concerned. In parts of northern Nigeria, sex between homosexuals is a capital offence. The Presidents of Zimbabwe and Namibia have openly condemned the practice, which is also punishable by prison terms elsewhere on the continent. . However, Sufyan Rashid – a features editor at Malawi’s Daily Times – says gay practices are not an issue of critical importance for most Malawians, and that this has been reflected in the limited media coverage of the issue. The public, he says, is far more interested in the general election scheduled for May next year.

“We’re reading these things in the foreign media because they’re happening out there, and not here,” says Rashid.

Some members of the Anglican Church say they see no reason why their leaders should be so vocal on this matter, as it has little relevance to the everyday life of Malawians.

“I think they are just trying to draw attention to themselves for personal gain. After all, Robinson is not a Malawian – so why should that concern us?” asked Lindani Chisambi, an Anglican churchgoer from Ndirande, a suburb of Blantyre.

Jeri Gomonda, an events planner, agrees: “I have no problem with homosexuals in the church or elsewhere, and I don’t understand why so many people get bothered by what others do in private.”

However, she is concerned about the possibility of children being coerced into having gay sex.

Last year, British national Charles Hayles – a former high school teacher – was tried for sodomising six boys between the ages of nine and 14. He had taken them off the street, under the pretext of looking after them at his home in Blantyre. Hayles was slapped with a 12-year sentence and had his appeals in both the Supreme and High Courts turned down in May this year.

To the chagrin of human rights organisations, however, President Bakili Muluzi later pardoned Hayles, who has since flown back to Britain.

The country’s constitution is silent on gay rights, but provides for freedom of association. Human rights activists believe this freedom gives Malawians the right to choose their sexual partners.

Emiliana Tembo, executive director of the Malawi Human Rights Commission, says that while there are no studies or statistics to determine the prevalence of gay and lesbian practices in Malawi, these do occur within the country.

“No one has come to us to seek redress against discrimination. But, this is prevalent out there, which explains why the practices are a tight secret,” she added.