Malawi Conviction, Colonialism & Other Thoughts

At the end of my post on IDAHO, I linked to Reggie H's post, which mentions the horrific show trial the Malawi government staged to convict Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20 (at right, photo: Eldson Chagara/Reuters), for the "crimes" of buggery (sodomy) and gross indecency. Gukira, in commenting on that post, cited the trial's tragic outcome: yesterday, Monjeza and Chimbalanga were convicted and sentenced to the maximum 14 of prison after having held a symbolic wedding ceremony. The magistrate, Chief Resident Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa, imposed this sentence because, he argued, "the public must be protected....Malawi society is not ready to see its sons marrying other sons, nor daughters marrying daughters. It is immoral in our society."

This conviction, while horrendous in its cruelty and homophobia, was not an isolated incident; in fact, back in February, the Guardian Online reported on the Malawi police's operation against gay and lesbian people, parallelling similar campaigns in other parts of Anglophone East and southern Africa, including Uganda, where the parliament is debating a bill that would impose life imprisonment on anyone convicted of having same-sexual relations, and which had earlier broached the death penalty for gay people; and Kenya, where gay people have been arrested for participating in a wedding ceremony.  Back in Malawi, as the Guardian UK notes

A 21-year-old man was recently sentenced to two months' community service for putting up pro-gay rights posters, and a senior minister expelled a woman from her town even after a court acquitted her on charges of having sex with two girls.

The sentence the two men in Malawi face is horrifying, as is the vitriol directed at them by many members of the public and the people affiliated with various "Christian" churches. In the case of Uganda, in particular, there has been much discussion and criticism of the role of fundamentalist US Christian churches and missionaries, who have been actively fomenting anti-gay rhetoric and legislation in Anglophone Africa. Yet taking a broader historical and geographical view, I've come to see that it's frequently in former British colonies--especially in the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and South and East Asia, where homophobic legislation and rhetoric are strongest.  (On the issue of anti-gay legislation, penalties, and public vehemence against LGBTQ people compare Jamaica to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or even Haiti, for example; or Nigeria to Niger, Mauretania or Cape Verde; or Egypt to Morocco or Tunisia; or India, until fairly recently, to Indonesia or Thailand.) This is hardly an ironclad rubric, but it does seem to bear out (and I'm certainly not the first to cite it.) What I guess I've not worked out is how European colonialism, and in specific, the British rule, appears to have often led, across the globe, to these extremist Christian-centered anti-gay regimes. In the case of Southern Africa, both colonial and imperial legal approaches and cultural practices, and the religious fundamentalism, have obscured and in some cases prior cultural and social traditions in which same-sexual behavior, performances and practices were accepted (cf. Luiz Mott, Will Roscoe, Stephen O. Murray, James H. Sweet, J. Lorand Matory, et. al.)

What also mystifies me is that it's conversely the presence of Roman Catholicism--I'm thinking for examples of Ireland, Canada, Australia, and the very Catholic parts of the US, which includes most of New England and the Northeast--or, sometimes alongside it, Left-influenced ideologies (cf. South Africa, for example), that seems to mitigate this British influence. And I need not tell anyone how extremely homophobic the Roman Catholic Church has been over the last 5 centuries, and still is today. Its current leader wrote one of the most viciously homophobic documents to be widely distributed (and, thankfully, across much of the Catholic world, ignored). Let me be clear in stating that I don't think other European colonial powers didn't also influence homophobic and heterosexist laws and attitudes--I've written on here, as I have in my creative work, about how the Portuguese, to take one example, were incapable of understanding or dealing with the complexity of south-central and south-western African sexualities in Brazil, let alone those of the indigenous people they encountered.  But in places like Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Jamaica, etc., where fundamentalism took root alongside the colonial and especially post-colonial governments, this sort of fanaticism appears to be rife, and the continuing influence of US fundamentalist Christians, and mainstream Protestant churches with conservative branches in these countries, only worsens matters.

British Empire (from Wikipedia)

Another irony in relation to colonialism and imperialism is that, as this horrifying case in Malawi exposed, the government homophobes often deploy the rhetoric of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism--"the West" cannot tell them how to live their lives or "impose" homosexuality on them, and they will refuse Western "money" if they need to--in defense of their persecution of LGBTQ people.  Intervention by Western governments, including the US, does appear to have led the Ugandan government to drop the death penalty provision. Yet, as the Huffington Post article notes, Rev. Levi Nyondo, general secretary of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Livingstonia Synod, praised the vicious sentence, invoking this anti-colonialist rhetoric when he stated that "The [Western] donors can stay with their money, we have our morals to protect....The government should stand firm, we are supporting it. They should not be bullied into submission by donor money."

The practical effects, of course, are devastating to LGBTQ people in these countries, and to these societies in general. The article above notes the difficulties in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but the fundamentalist Christian perspective on and approach to sexuality and sexual freedom in general and to women's reproductive health have grave psychic, physiological and political effects. 

On a slightly related and very screwed up tip, the Communist government in China convicted and sentenced a former professor, Ma Yaohai, 53, to 3 1/2 years of prison for arranging private, consensual swingers' gatherings, or orgies. The official charge, based on a 1997 law, was "group licentiousness for participating in group sex parties," according  an anonymous official from the Qinhuai District Court in southeastern Nanjing. Ma, now retired, has been living with and caring for his elderly mother, who has Alzheimer's Disease, and used their apartment for his assignations. He was arrested with 21 other people, of whom all but Ma pleaded guilty; 3 were acquitted for turning themselves in, while 18 have been jailed, with sentences up to 2 1/2 years.  Ma who pleaded innocent, is appealing his conviction. The case has sparked debate in China over sexual and other social freedoms. I personally find the very idea that he was charged at all both ridiculous and insane. But then again, same-sexual activity was still illegal in a number of US states until 2003, so....

IDAHO (Int'l Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) + Harvey Milk Week of Action in Chicago

It's May 17, which means it's also International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, or IDAHO. The brainchild of Dr. Louis-Georges Tin, a black gay scholar, writer and activist (with whom I conducted an interview several years back, accessible here), IDAHO began 5 years ago, after Tin began an initiative, in August 2004, to create a truly global International Day Against Homophobia. His aim was for "universal recognition" of this day, and he proposed that it be fixed on May 17, "to commemorate the World Health Organisation’s decision to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders." Since May 17, 2005, numerous countries and groups within those countries have called for an end to homophobia and transphobia, and a push to decriminalize "homosexuality" has also spread. The idea behind today is an important one: what would it mean to fight against fear and hatred of and end legal oppression of LGBTQ people?

Central to the logic of the day is that it is homophobia that is the problem, and should be "deconstructed in its social logic and done away with." On the map below, in countries colored blue, there have been or will be events--marches, celebrations, parades, kiss-ins, public speeches--to commemorate IDAHO.

As a cursory glance makes clear, large swathes of Africa, the Middle East and Asia have no participants in today's events. Yet we shouldn't be complacent about the US, either; over the last 10 years the focus among mainstream LGBTQ organizations has shifted to same-sex marriage and repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT). 5 US states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire) and the District of Columbia now have marriage equality laws, and the Democratic-controlled Congress's leaders, as well as the President, have expressed support for repealing DADT, though they are dragging their feet right now. Yet passing the the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would arguably have an even greater effect on far more LGBTQ people, since 20 states still have no protection from employment discrimination. In fact, a comprehensive civil rights bill (or Constitutional Amendment) banning all discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity would be even more important, since only 13 states have protections to prevent housing discrimination. Same-sex couples or gay single people still cannot adopt children in some states (such as Florida, in part based on the hateful and spurious testimony of hypocrites like George Rekers), and in other states, because of the lack of civil protections, a gay parent can lose custody of her child. Other areas rarely touched upon include discrimination by medical professionals and hospitals, and discrimation against elderly queer people in nursing homes.  These are all issues that still need to be addressed, along with a more equitable economic and political system that ensures that LGBTQ people, like every other American, have opportunities for work, to make a decent living, and live and retire with dignity.

In Chicago, this is Harvey Milk Week of Action, which includes a full schedule of events, from rallies to teach-ins to flashmobs, to commemorate what would have been Harvey Milk's 80th birthday, and to also discuss and speak out against homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism both in the US and across the globe. The culminating event will be a rally at 1 pm in the Loop this Saturday, May 22, 2010, Harvey Milk Day, his birthday and the day California has designated to commemorate him. 

Equality Across America has a listing of other Harvey Milk Day events across the US, so please take part if you're able to do so!

Reggie H's take on the day is up too!