Forbidden Love: Gay Couple Sentenced to 14 Years in Malawi For Holding Marriage Ceremony

Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, have been sentenced to 14 years in prison with hard labor for holding a private wedding ceremony. The Malawi court found that such a ceremony and relationship constitutes gross indecency and involves unnatural acts. Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa stated he wanted to protect the public “from people like you.”

The court stated at the sentencing “I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public be protected from people like you, so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example.”

The two men were then exposed to citizens shouting abuse and laughing at them as they were taken to jail.

Notably, Western governments supply 40 percent of Malawi’s budget — a level of support that should be reexamined in light of such human rights violations. It is hard to see why gay citizens should be subsidizing a nation that treats them as a public danger.

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