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We have been beaten in jail, say first openly gay couple in Malawi
04 Jan 2010- Malawi- Since they
became the first openly gay couple in Malawi to be engaged, Tiwonge
Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been arrested, put in prison and
charged with offences that could lead to a 14-year jail sentence.
Between true love and gay martyrdom,
however, is the brutal reality of life in a Malawi prison. Yesterday, in
their first interview since being jailed, the pair claimed that they had
been beaten in prison, and demanded to go to court to prove their
innocence.
While Mr Chimbalanga, 20, who dresses
as a woman, spoke defiantly of his love for the man he plans to marry,
Mr Monjeza, 22, said that he was “drunk” when they met and was
considering ending their engagement. The couple, who denied three
charges of unnatural practices between males and gross indecency,
performed a public engagement ceremony in front of 500 onlookers last
weekend. They were arrested two days later.
With gay rights campaigners warning
that the case marks a new wave of homophobia in Africa, the pair have
been held since then at Chichiri prison in Blantyre, where the warders
appear bemused by the level of hysteria surrounding their charges.
In an interview with The Times
at the weekend, Mr Chimbalanga — visibly more at ease than Mr Monjeza,
who appeared confused and disorientated — said: “I love my husband and
laws should not prohibit love.”
Mr Monjeza said that he was drunk when
they first met. But he admitted that he sobered up later. “I love the
way he talked, the way he loved me.”
When it was suggested that he sounded
apologetic and remorseful, however, he expressed his doubts about the
wisdom of their historic confrontation with the conservative southern
African state. “Well, I was drunk. I guess I wanted to be famous but I
am now regretting. Prison life is no good. I realised we have broken the
laws. I am calling this off. I am not crazy. I have another woman I
intended to marry but I loved Tiwonge. I guess I should apologise to
that other woman.”
Mr Chimbalanga, however, remained
defiant. Dressed in a blouse and describing himself as a woman, he said
that they became engaged after “my darling, Steven, proposed love to me
and we agreed to get married”.
Unlike Mr Monjeza, he refused to
accept that he had broken any law. “Which laws? I am a woman, I can do
what a woman can do,” he said. “I love Steven for what he is, he doesn’t
give me money. In fact, I do everything for him, but love is love.”
But prison is prison. “They beat us up
here,” said Mr Chimbalanga. “Why? Why beating us? We have done no wrong.
If they say we have broken laws, why not let the courts judge us?”
Reluctant to accept that his
relationship was over, he said: “Well, he is the one who proposed to me.
I still love him though. Love is between two people, the third one is a
spoiler. The police is the spoiler here.”
They are due to appear in court today
for a bail application. “I hope they give us bail and let us out of
here,” said Mr Monjeza. “It’s terrible here.”
Mr Chimbalanga said: “We are not
supposed to be here. You don’t arrest someone because he loves someone.”
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