The secret life of China’s gays

I come from a country where being gay is punishable by 14 years in jail, but still more I was at the heart of  gay rights struggle there, I went around meeting gays and telling their stories… then I moved to China.

It is legal to be gay in China; no one should come and cry wolf or a river that they are oppressed on account of being gay here in the Middle Kingdom.

One more note about me…I am one athletic guy, if you were gay [or open-minded…lol], you would love to be on my side…you get the picture, but am not gay.

Never mind my narcissism

What am saying is, there are gays in China, the law doesn’t bar them, but they have no pride or courage to live normal life.

In 2010, the AFP cited experts who estimated there were about 30 million homosexuals in China, and 20 million of them are men.

Since arriving in China, I have frequently been hit on by gays. At first I thought it was my athleticism or maybe the way I do stuff, but sad (or good?) for me it was not that.

The guys that hit on me told me they are free to approach a foreigner and say they are gay because foreigners are (said to be) open-minded. That is they never dare tell their Chinese friends they are gay.

Huffington Post has on record Qingdao University's Zhang Bei-chuan  who reportedly told China Daily that about 90 percent [16 million] of the nation's gay men get married to heterosexual [and lesbians] women in an effort to conform to social norms.

I understand their position, imagine being the only child in a society that expects so much from a child and you turn out to be gay or a hooker and in some cases, even a singer.

When I discuss the question of gays with my Chinese [and Africans too] friends they get worked up and simply do not accept homosexuality as a reality, let alone in China.

China’s gays need to come out; there are risks of hiding: gays usually have higher rates of STDs because while living on the DL, they create cells and live dangerously, and they sometimes think ST diseases’ are for heterosexuals. Then there are risks of suicides.

However, I sit and imagine a Chinese gay guy, with his parents aging and aching for an heir and in a society that cherishes honour and losing face is haram.

But like Africans in South Africa, or America and gays in Malawi learnt, the majority is usually very happy to see gays hiding and if they do not come out, they will never get their rights.

Meanwhile I have to explain to this boy, who actually offered me money [the audacity!], that I have may have gay looks, but am actually a fan of the female form.

Leave lesbians alone: Malawi's first ever openly practicing lesbian speaks out

We have seen the men: Steven Monjeza, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Fortune Banduka. But have we heard from the lesbians? Are there any in Malawi? Brace yourself.

Mercy Kumwenda, 23 says she is tired of living in the shadows and has come out to declare that she is a lesbian and she has called on “whoever is makes the laws” to leave lesbians alone and to protect them.

“People think that you are a witch, abnormal, satanic or you just want to make money but for me its inborn. I mean how do you I sleep with a man if I have no feelings for a man, I have tried dating men but it didn’t work,” said Kumwenda.

Kumwenda was speaking on the sidelines of a women’s rights consultation meeting organised by the ministry of gender in conjunction with Oxfam and Gender Coordination Network at Wamkulu Palace in Lilongwe on Wednesday.

The meeting was aimed at hearing the voices of rural women in preparation for the next set of millennium development goals; among the invited was Mercy Kumwenda.

Unprecedented .... Mercy in flesh, not hiding.

Kumwenda is of medium height, with an unforgettable face owing to a scar on her face. She harbours no shyness about her plump build and played confident as she mingled with the rest of the delegates.

The first question I fired at her was if she was sure of coming out in the newspaper, which she said she was, this despite her admitting that she hasn’t told her parents about her being gay yet.

“Currently only people from my work know…there are millions of lesbians out there but they cannot speak out because they fear being called names and jeered at in the streets,” said Kumwenda.

She however said that without coming out, like she did, government would not help her and her friends would continue to suffer oppression.

She denied any possibility of being a learned lesbian saying she found out about her being gay in standard eight when she got very attracted to her best friend who later became her lover whom she claims she continues being very close to.

“We actually have a name Mathanyula for it showing that being gay is not from the West, it has been in Malawi for a long time,” said Kumwenda.

The horrors that gays face in Malawi are well documented starting from those sanctioned by capitol hill where being gay is punishable by a jail sentence that can go up to 14 years, almost all Malawian gays according to literature occur in underground networks.

 “My friend sustained a broken arm after being beaten at a club for kissing a fellow lesbian. The hospital also looks at them in askance when we want to access medical care for STIs and they ask us to bring partners which we cannot do because we would be picked on therefore lesbians go to private hospitals if they can afford, ” she said.

She said lesbians do not need to come out to prove that there are out there, she said whoever wants to quantify them should commission a research.

Kumwenda said she knows about 40 lesbians in Blantyre and Lilongwe and with the secretive lives they lead, potential partners are identified through these cells of friends a point she stressed eliminates fake lesbians from real ones.

“If you are a fake lesbian you wouldn’t know the connection lesbians have by merely looking at each other,” she said.

A member of the Assemblies of God church, she believes that homosexuality is not a sin arguing that an inborn natural phenomenon cannot be a sin. She insisted that man should not rush to judge because there is only one judge: God and that he is yet to call for the judgment day.

Asked what she had to say to the framers of law who made homosexuality illegal, Mercy said she doesn’t even know who made the law and where he got the authority and the law makers and homophobic Malawians, Mercy had a brisk message:

“Leave lesbians alone. They are human being no matter what people say. Let them be, make laws to protect us we were born here and there is nowhere else we can go.”

Homosexuality in Malawi took the agenda when a gay couple Tionge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested after holding public engagement ceremony in Blantyre, Malawi in 2009. Late President Bingu wa Mutharika has equaled gays to dogs and a pastor in Lilongwe has called for the death of gays reflecting the harsh homophobia on the streets.

The constitution guarantees nondiscrimination on Chapter Four/ Section 20 but this is sharp contrast with the penal code which promises 14 years to all gays.

Malawi President Joyce Banda has been shaky in the face of the debate; she at first gave hope and hinted at suspending homophobic laws but upon local pressure from her electoral competition relented and said it is up for the nation to decide.

Human rights activist have long argued that homosexuality needs to be decriminalized in Malawi because its discrimination and fuels HIV. Current figures indicate that HIV prevalence is at 21% among gays way higher than the 14 percent of the rest of the population.

Research conducted on the subject blames the current HIV rates on the fact that gays are not targeted with HIV messages and are forced to sleep with each other in their crammed cells owing to the dangers of coming to the open.

It remains to be seen how Mr. Kumwenda will react to their daughter coming out but what we can tell here is her coming out is a milestone, she is the first ever lesbian to come out in Malawi.

I support Kumwenda with all my journalism. To be gay is not a crime. 

Malawian Human Rights Activists Against Sexual Minority Rights, Imagine

Now you are about to read something I think is only unique to Malawi...i got this in an email from Billy Mayaya a very respectable and intelligent human rights activist in Malawi...the email comes in the wake of an alleged declaration by the country's justice minister and attorney general that there is a moratorioum on all anti-gay laws, such that its now almost not a crime to be gay in Malawi...

Here is the email intoto:

"We, the Concerned Citizens of Malawi, would like to express our concern over the government’s stifling of debate over the issue of Homosexuality in this country. We particularly cite the government’s recent unilateral decision to suspend anti-gay laws. We question this selective application of the law for the following reasons:

There are other laws such as that pertaining to the Death Penalty which still remain in force and yet have not been selected for suspension. We seriously question the Government’s reason for this selective bias.

There is no global consensus on the issue. In democracies like the United States, certain states such as Texas retain the Death Penalty and the Republican Party espouse traditional values as a matter of principle and oppose same sex unions. Yet, the Government of Malawi is taking a dogmatic approach and moving towards concluding on the matter without the participation of the general public.

We are aware that the subject of same sex relationships is contentious and Malawi should not be made the exception. There appears to be an invisible hand influencing the position of government on the matter Malawians are being stifled from engaging in debate on the matter As citizens of this country exercising their right to religious belief, we believe that Homosexuality runs counter to God's created order for the family, and that major religious texts contain no affirmation of homosexual activity.

We believe that homosexual conduct is out of harmony with God's purpose for human beings; and that it is in violation of religious and social norms and are aberrant and deviant behavior. In view of the above, we the Concerned Citizens of Malawi demand the following:

The Government of Malawi to immediately lift the suspension on Gay Law and encourage debate on the issue

The Government of Malawi desist from making unilateral decisions without the consent of the citizens in Malawi. Members of Parliament engage with their constituents before debating the issue in the National Assembly.

That the issue goes to a Referendum as a way of engaging the citizens of this country in this debate We the Concerned Citizens append our signatures to this petition in support of these demands:"

I agree with the authors on a few points...government should follow procedure, should respect law and there really needs to be debate on the issue...

What I dont agree with is the morality of the authors...are they human right defenders or clergy? What human rights are they defending if they disown gays? so somw human rights are not human rights?

If the minister did declare the moratorium, there are a few things that are worth lauding...so far in Malawi 6 in every ten people say homosexuality should remain a crime. If taken to parliament, the MPs would even go on to pass the death penalty against gays...you see, the issue is just like racism in the 1940 America...if issues of black rights were put to a vote, we would still have Jim Crow laws in place...you cannot put issues of minoroty rights to a ballot, the majority will crush the minority by effectively denying them their rights.

That is where an executive order comes in, Malawians do not knkw that gays are folks like everyone else, some evene think they do not exist in society...but science and society are constantly showing that gays are actually born gays and nothing can change them...so where are those people going to live?

These 'human right defenders' should know that, actually if they are versed in human rights theory, it should be in one of their 101 subjects...

I am on mobile so I cannot write much but am just wondering as to who will defend the people if the human rights defenders side with the oppressive system?

If human rights defenders quote the Bible as their guide, can they possibly protect the Muslim interests? do human rights not come first before denomination? I think I really am in Malawi...

Undule Mwakasungula, one of the Human Rights Defenders is obviously shocked and not party to the above irony...here is his Facebook status thread of ten hours ago...and check Reverend MacDonald Sembereka's comments...

Undule Mwakasungula wrote

I will never , never be part of any religion which promotes hate,hatred ,anger ,discrimination , homophobia , stigma ,gossips ,lies , misinformation !

MacDonald Sembereka commented

If the God others believe in is such homophobic them mine is different because mine is neither he or she,doesnt favour people because of sex or colour, is not as mean as we are,not selfish as we are, slow to anger and full of loving kindness. I beg to differ with those who assume the place of God and become judgmental of others when they are thieves, liers, adulterers and full of slanders and hide in the all mercifulness of God.
9 hours ago · Like · 1

Davie Maliro added

I heard one religious leader saying those that are of the same sex orientation are abnormal and they are not welcome into our sociaty, now my question is why do we welcome those that are physically challenged into our sociaty?, did our good God Jesus discriminate the physically challenged?.
8 hours ago · Like

Graciano Bwana-Lee Bwanali charged at Undule and Sembereka

Go straight to the point.. you are against religions that are against same sex marriages. But one day, someone wil have to answer. And all the benefits for the advocating of the same will be nowhere. MÜSAWUMITSÉ MTIMA, ZA PA DZIKO NDIZOKUTHA.
7 hours ago · Like · 1

Chimwemwe Mutambo mocked Sembereka

Koma Abusa lero mukapemphelesa kuti?
3 hours ago · Like

Lucky Crown Mbewe played sober

Abusa ambiri do not understand religion and so resolt into judging others. God is God of love regardless of whatever situations we are in so those who promote hate, homophobia, anger, evil and gossip will not not see God some day. Amen
2 hours ago · Like

Undule Mwakasungula chipped in

The Jesus Christ i know is of love ,care ,forgiveness ,support, Jesus who believes in hardworking , who creates heavenly on earth and no to wait for heaven after death ! The Jesus christ who co exists even of we are different in our thinking , orientation, colours, language etc. That's the Jesus Christ I will always follow !!!
2 hours ago · Like

Undule Mwakasungula

Graciano that's the misinformation we are talking about ???! Get the facts and help the nation !
2 hours ago · Like

Bright Mhango, thats me!

Just got a petition from your ranks and files of the cso bashing government for the 'moratorium'
2 hours ago · Like · Edit

Undule Mwakasungula replied

Bright ! Yes that's the debate we need to engage on but based on facts if they have any. ! Letd continue to facilitate that dialogue but a sober one with no emotions !
1 hour ago · Like

Bright Mhango, I argued on

Never seen human rights defenders chosing which rights to fight for...its as if we have our own Malawian version of doing things...
1 hour ago · Like · 1 · Edit

Undule Mwakasungula expounded

You can say that again Bright ! It's a shame ! As human rights defenders we want our rights to be protected and then we say rights of minorities should not be protected ? misplaced human rights defenders and it's so unfortunate indeed !
1 hour ago · Like

Undule Mwakasungula again

How can we be in the fore front to promote discrimination, stigma ,hate ,homophobia against vulnerable groups and yet we say we are HRDs ? How can HRDs be selective in which rights to protect ? We are really misplaced !
1 hour ago · Like

Interesting, huh?

So, who is a Malawian again?

The news excited the international community; it will no longer be a criminal offense to be gay in Malawi. The issue has not gone well with some Malawians and the past week has seen the cyberspace awash with debate with some saying that decriminalising homosexuality is not welcome because homosexuality is “unMalawian.” So what is Malawian?

Malawi is a god fearing country and God forbids homosexuality, this is the core argument of the anti-gay crowd, they go on to say that gay culture clashes with Malawian culture and again the question springs up, what is Malawian Culture?

“The concept of "Malawian" is a mental construct that exists in the minds of people. It is similar to the construct of political party affiliation,” said College of Medicine Psychologist Chiwoza Bandawe

Undule Mwakasungula of Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) joined in on the debate: “If you are a Malawian that makes you Malawian, whether born in Malawian or not but as long as you there for the good of Malawi progress you are Malawian.”

Both Mwakasungula and Bandawe said there is nothing that can set Malawian Culture as a single entity

“It is a misnomer to suggest that there is one uniform "Malawian". Malawians are made up of people of different faiths or lack thereof: Christian, Muslim, Secular humanists etc. Malawians are made up of different economic standings as well as different backgrounds and ways of thinking. Malawi cannot have just one dominant culture,” said Bandawe

Mwakasungula said as a nation Malawians have not agreed what can constitute of Malawian culture, it’s just something they say but it is nothing clear cut.

So if the much touted Malawian culture cannot be pointed at, can what is “unMalawian” be singled out?

No, says Mwakasungula, he argued that Malawians have sung the song of being Malawians for too long so that they feel that they ought to protect cultural values which also happen to be undefined.

Bandawe echoed Mwakasungula’s argument and gave an example of laptops; cell phones and use of Facebook which he said are popular among Malawians and wondered if they are Malawian - Malawians, he concluded, come in all shapes and sizes.

The dominant feeling among the people that are advancing the anti-gay agenda argue that decriminalising homosexuality will bring the wrath of God on Malawi will corrupt morals of children’s morals and that it is just unnatural.

To be gay is like to be a black man, non of it is a crime

Recently several clergymen warned Joyce Banda against repealing the law against homosexuality and asked if she is trying to be above God, another pastor even called for a referendum on the matter. Mwakasungula however charged that many Malawians are using culture and religion to oppress minorities.

“We should not hide behind culture of religion to persecute minority groups.  Culture is dynamic and we have seen so many things we believed in years back being modified.  We can't be rigid because you don't like something or the way others are behaving,” said
Mwakasungula

Another academician and blogger, Jimmy Kainja also agrees with Mwakasungula and says he sees nothing wrong with adults being gay.

“Tolerance is very important. It's hard for me to believe that someone is out there to oppress minorities just for the sake of it. I believe a lot of people are deluded by their own beliefs and they try to impose this on others.

“This is where the question of national identity comes in - what is it? Why do you we accept some foreign values and refuse others? It's all subjective and ignorance, this leads to lack of tolerance,” said Kainja

There also seems to be a strong feeling among Malawians that homosexuality is being forced upon Malawians by Western powers, already some people are jokingly calling Malawi a “donor-fearing nation.” Western cultural influence is an unstoppable force with Hollywood influencing people even in China and Russia. Has Malawi been influenced by the West culturally?  

Can Malawi resist Western culture?

 Mwakasungula pointed out that Malawians use Western education, dress like Westerners, eat Western dishes and that most of the religions in Malawi are Western.

Malawians use western style of government, the family sizes are shrinking, MTV is visible in the streets even the accents of many a girl are trying too hard to echo the English and American,

Arguing on the same in a group on Facebook, Cynthia Mahata said: “The thing about Western culture is you have to get it all or reject it all, it comes as a package”

Adds Kainja: “Patrice Lumumba said ‘Africa will write its own history, from south to the north of Sahara.’ He was right, Africa will write its own history but it will be a negotiated one; influenced by global trends and culture.”

Are Malawians therefore being hypocritical in adopting capitalism and yet denying sexual minorities a place? Or is it unMalawian to raise such questions?

The Ultimate or Detestable Red Soldier?

During the July 20 demos in Malawi, people came out to the streets to protest various issues but this one was the ultimate protester, in a country where the whole nation almost agrees to be homophobic, this guy put on this T-shirt and was not moved at all...

Malawians should not play God on gays- Legalize homosexuality

Two days ago i ran an article by Hasting Ndebvu, this is my reply to that...

 

‘Malawi is a God fearing nation; gays will corrupt our children; gays are crazy; being gay is illegal.’ These are some of the arguments Malawians give in justifying homophobia. Convincing as the reasons seem, I find them wanting and in this apology I set out to put across a case for gays (transsexuals, gays and lesbians and Bisexuals).

First, I should put out this disclaimer that: we never say a cat is a caterpillar just because it is sitting on a pillar. These arguments are simply opinion staged for argument’s sake - to join the national debate, if you relate to them, well, put the cap on, it fits you.

Gays are not unnatural

The likes of Robert Mugabe have charged that gays are unnatural, that homosexuality is fit for dogs. I will not cite Mutharika’s similar rants because they were just a vain attempt to be ranked alongside Mugabe. With that said, I ask: are the Mugabe’s and the lesser known homophobes like Mutharika scientifically endowed to declare that gays are unnatural?

Yes research has shown that they are unnatural but it has also shown that gays are but normal. The seemingly complex algorithm is simple; everybody does research with motives. Recently Satoshi Kanazawa concluded that black women are the least attractive, Hitler used fake science to justify superiority of his race. Research is just funded and organised opinion.

As I know, homosexuality has been detected in over 150 animal species and that scientists now agree that there is no mental or psychic issue about being gay.

The reason hating gays is called homophobia is because we cannot justify the hatred, in fact it means we fear them. We claim that gays commit more suicide; that gays do allot of crime; that gays live shorter dangerous lives. To me it’s all a vain attempt to keep on hating gays.

In America, more crime is committed by Blacks, in Malawi more crime is committed by the poor ghetto people. It’s simple, if people are deprived and picked on, they are likely to commit suicide, to rob or act violent. It’s not being gay that makes one’s life short; it’s the conditions society puts them in. Blacks die faster than whites as do Africans vis a vis Japanese, its economics not genetics or sex.

 The religious card

Then there are people, some of them visibly satanic, who would like to play the religious card and justify homophobia by quoting scriptures.

I will not quote the Quran because to me that book is just a poetic version of the Bible and with the call for violence on Sura 4: verses 21-2: “... and if two of you commit it, then hurt them both...,” it’s better to leave it there because seriously, God cannot call for harm on his own creatures.

It is fact that homosexuality is listed as sin in the Bible, but what sin is not listed? People behave as if Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed solely for homosexuality and yet Bible says the cities were destroyed for their pride and arrogance (Ezekiel 16:48-49).

Then there is Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 that clearly says men should not sleep with other men. These verses are the talk of the homophobes, most of whom have not studied hermeneutics.  Yes, the Bible says gay practices are sins but it doesn’t stop there.

Stealing, gossiping, killing, lying, adultery are all condemned, as a matter of fact, the Bible prohibits tattooing, round haircuts, mixing fabrics, touching dead carcasses of animals like dogs and rats. Onan was killed for using the withdrawal technique in family planning terms, which by analogy also alienates masturbation (Genesis 38:9-10) 

I should take time to condemn the Lilongwe pastor who called for death of gays. He surely needs Theology 101 basics. The strict rules were what we term, Holiness Codes, they were for the priests, those from the tribe of Levi who lived almost like monks. If we take what Numbers, Deuteronomy and Leviticus said then we would not even be alive because we somehow commit deathly offences daily.

Before I turn this into a Bible commentary, which I would happily do, I should just say that the Bible was not written by God. It was written by people, people with cultures, people with attitudes and values, in Epistemology such knowledge is under revealed knowledge and cannot be disputed or paraded as gospel truth, so the Bible should not bind us, but rather guide us, that’s after agreeing on its canonicity.

Then there is this lame and, to borrow Bingu’s words, ‘stupid’ argument that since gays cannot procreate then they are against the Biblical order to ‘populate the world like sand.’ I will not ask you to point for me the guy who spoke to God for fear being labelled a heretic, but I will ask if we are not lucky to have gays coming along in this time of population related problems?

Gays will not add to our population, they will adopt the kids we father like pigs and fail to accept them (am not speaking of Kamuzu here), if we want to multiply like sand, some people are already doing a god job about it, why bother a small group of gays?

 It should also be made clear that being gay is not about having sex, it’s like marriage, and its purpose is long term companionship where sex is a member of the bigger universal set called marriage. Having or not having children in gay marriages is the same as in straight couples, it’s a choice. Who took Kamuzu to task for not having any known sons?

The only sin that gays seem to do is by inserting their members into each other’s rectums or in the case of women licking each other’s pudenda. But if we were to employ Cheaters’ Joey Greco to spy on the homes of some of us, many would be outlawed. People are performing blow jobs, cunnilungus, three-somes, double penetrations and some enjoy an occasional anal sex dosage with their partners. Who comes and points fingers at you?

Some say ‘design determines purpose,’ yes the penis is a rod that seeks a cavity, some take that cavity as the rectum and if the grinding of clitorises during lesbian tribadising suits them who are we to protest?

It’s very funny how straight people spend time chasing gays instead of chasing guys and girls, some of the straight people are too old or ugly or out-of-the-equation to be ‘the type’ for gays and yet they are on their case like a flamingo to a Rhino.  Why can’t we live and let live? 

Why do we behave as if the legalisation of gay sex will see a penis in our rectums? I thought once married it’s up to the partners to do things to each other as they please? We should not be hypocrites and play holy saints. 

Gays are people too, with rights

Gays, just like Lhomwes, babies, girls, men and miners are people with full rights. Yes, our constitution didn’t recognise them but can’t we understand that the constitution was coined a long time ago? Even in Greece where Democracy sprung, women were taken as property; it took time to recognise them. Blacks in America were slaves; it took time [and realisation] to recognise niggers as people. 

Discriminating gays means that is also alright for white people to still have reservations about our claim that we are not apes.

Just like God did to humans, we have been given free choice as echoed by Ecclesiastes who says we should enjoy our youth as we wish. Let everybody live their life as they choose. Let us not be little gods and start judging, a thing even God has reserved for end times. We are, in fact, being blasphemous by labelling gays as sinners- that’s God’s duty.

Gays, like University students have full rights; right to choice, right to association, right to opinion right to be protected, right to life and right to hold a belief.

Homophobia is costly

We all remember Shabba Ranking, the Jamaican DJ who took the world by storm with his sweet slack chants, his career crashed because of homophobia, along came Buju Banton whose ‘Boom Bye Bye’ tune still haunts him today, he is in a Florida prison and is likely to get 20 years IHL due to his homophobia, though its unrelated to his drug offences.

Now Shabba was tough and as tough as Shabba was, he publicly apologised. Also recall how Sizzla is boycotted in Britain and US. What the Jamaican artistes did is exactly what Malawi is doing, we know our market and support is in the West and yet we try to fight with it.

Respected Rastafarians like Apple Gabriel have accepted gays; in his 2010 album, ‘Teach Them Right,’ He sings of showing love to the gays, what an example for the untraveled Malawians.

In addition to my many Justification of legalisation of homosexuality is the issue of HIV/Aids prevention. gays are at the heart of the fight, imagine what problems we are creating if we dont iclude them in our HIV plans?

Malawi has no Culture

If you are still old fashioned and decide to watch MBC TV, you would likely catch Philip Business, Bessie Chirambo, Vuwa Kaunda or Hetherwick Ntaba tearing apart gays and their argument is that homosexuality is against Malawian culture. I foam at such generalisations and still wonder what we mean when we say Malawian culture?

Is Malawian culture the thieving Nyau culture, the vulgar Lower Shire mouths the pudenda peddling women at Malipenga dances in Nkhatabay or the game poaching Kasungu and Rumphi? Is Malawi culture tribalism, where a child born in Rumphi is Tumbuka first and Malawian next or the Mhlako who refuse to hide their favouritism in dealing with national cakes?

This myth called Malawi culture does not exist, and the jingoism that we are a God fearing nation is just another word for blasphemy. There is nothing Malawian about our culture apart from the stupid practices, the tribalism and the stinking politics. The religion is a rubberstamp; the real people are drunkards and staunch capitalists. Porn is easy to watch on government computers in Malawi than in the US.

In the world over, just like Malawi, priests dabble in paedophilia and some sex scandals go all the way up to the Pope’s nose. In the church they are pedagogically saint-like but we meet them in the weekend papers and in vibrating cars at airports.

With that angrily said, I think we are done with the Malawi culture crap, just like we dropped traditional religion for Christianity, lets accept the culture that is on us and not live in denial. Western culture is enslaving, yes but what are we to do? Our elders loved salt and cloth and sold our bright young men as slaves. Let’s integrate into Western culture and those who still feel tribal can practice their tribalism in their homes as the Israelites did under Babylonian rule.

Despite the likes of Tiwonge Chimbalanga being essentially unschooled, we still claim that homosexuality is a Western phenomenon. Malawians cannot just let other people do what they want, it stems from Kamuzu, who enjoyed women: watching them dance and impregnating some and yet thought the rest of the population should be restricted hence the banning of miniskirts and beauty pageants. Why do we think we are masters of other’s destiny when we cannot even steer our own country?

Legalizing homosexuality is suicidal, why Malawi should say no to gays

'This article is very homophobic but not for real, it was written by Hastings Ndebvu, a classmate, an advocate of freedom but for arguments sake, he took on the role of the homophobe author- i will counter it very soon.'   

I will not talk about religion. I will not talk about Sodom and Gomorrah. I will not cite or quote any scriptures in justifying why homosexuality and same sex marriages are suicidal pills which our nation should not touch, even with a ten-foot pole. After all, I can only competently quote the Bible, if at all I can, if I am to use religion in denouncing homosexuality.  

I would be very naïve to assume that everyone in this country is a believer, our constitution guarantees freedom of religion but clearly states that we are a secular state. Thus, to make my arguments against the legalization of same sex marriages appeal to all and sundry, including the George Thindwa’s of this world, I will desist from making this article a Bible commentary.

It is pleasing to learn that Malawians already seem not to sit down too well with the odd practice of homosexuality. Unlike in the west, where there are known movements and activists specializing in gay rights advocacy, Malawi has no known movement specifically pushing for the legalization of the same. We have never seen people taking to the streets with banners held high demanding the legalization of homosexuality. No Member of Parliament has ever stood up in our august house to move a motion that his constituents have asked the parliamentarian to amend our laws so that they accommodate homosexuality. So I wouldn’t be risking it if I said the West is imposing this practice on us.

But that does not mean that am overlooking the exploits of  Tiwonge Chimbalanga alias Aunt Tiwo, and Steve Monjeza, and other local human rights (not gay rights) activists (many of which are  married heterosexuals). But Aunt Tiwo and company would not amass enough signatures on their petitions to make us believe criminalizing homosexuality is indeed infringing on a tangible section of our population.

But even if they could, in a democratic country like the one we are living in, the majority rules. So if these activists want us to believe that legalizing homosexuality is that important, I dare them to call for a referendum on this issue to let the people of Malawi decide. It would be interesting to hear and see the look on the faces of these activists in the aftermath of a heavy defeat of the idea in the referendum. Am sure they will still say we are infringing on gays. I wouldn’t be surprised. Those are the stunts that butter their breads anyway.

Let us now start checking-in in the outrageous action stations beseted with the journey to the legalization of homosexuality whose destination is condemnation.  

Firstly, it has been proven that homosexuality poses many complications which inevitably shorten the life span of the engaging personalities. This is well documented in  Is Homosexulaity Normal?, by Edward Fields. 

Fields revealed that the life expectancy of homosexuals in the West has dropped to a disappointing 42 years. This is of course a far cry to the median age of death of a married heterosexual man which is 75. He also reveals that the median age for the death of a lesbian is 45, contrary to the median age of death for the heterosexual woman which is a distant 79.

The drop in expectancy for same sex partners has been attributed to the reckless lives that homosexuals and lesbians live in their sexual behavior other behaviors. If these statistics are to be believed, then it means that homosexuality reduces a man’s expectancy by almost 44 percent while a woman who has decided to take up lesbianism automatically reduces her expectancy by 45 percent.

Now, we need not mention that our life expectancy is way below that of our counterparts in the west. According to the latest United Nations country profiles, the life expectancy in Malawi is 56 years for men and 57 for women. We are talking of “normal” married heterosexuals here.

 If Field’s statistics are anything to go by, it means the life expectancy for the Malawian homosexual and lesbian is likely to go down even further. The percentages may not totally tally with those from the west; suffice to say they may be worse. But if expectancies of the Malawian homosexual and lesbian are to reduce by 44 and 55 percent respectively as their counterparts in the west, then it means that life expectancies for  Malawian homosexuals and lesbians will hover somewhere around 31  and 26 years respectively.

Now for a country like ours, still developing and in need of a vibrant workforce to be losing its nationals at such a tender age due to homosexuality is retrogressive. At such ages, most of our men and women in the country are busy pursuing their studies with high hopes of contributing to national development. And the country can ill afford to lose them at that age to same sex orientations.

Some naïve people would argue that death is universal and it shall spare no one. True. But to confront death before one’s destined time is inhuman. And at those projected ages of death government would have spent a lot of resources in trying to make these homos and lesbians responsible and productive citizens. From paying and subsidizing for their education in schools, buying them drugs in our hospitals and subsidizing their agricultural investments.

Surely, the government expects a good return in any citizen when providing for these things and for one to cut short one’s own life deliberately due to homosexuality is tantamount to stealing resources which government would have invested in other meaningful development projects. Such people indeed deserve to be punished.

Legalizing homosexuality is also likely make the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic even difficult for our country. This is due to the approved recklessness of homosexuals and lesbians in their sexual behavior.

One needs not be a rocket scientist to agree that homosexuals are less caring about their commitment and faithfulness to their partners than people in opposite sex sexual relationships or marriages. That is not to say that all opposite sex marriage partners are committed and faithful, no. The point is the promiscuity levels in homosexuals are tenfold higher of people in same sex sexual relationships.

This allegation was also affirmed by medical experts Corey and Holmes, who wrote in Sexual Transmission of Hepatitis A in Homosexual Men that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980 that the average homosexual has between 20 and 106 partners in a lifetime as compared to the average heterosexual who has a maximum of at least 8 partners in a lifetime.

Homosexuals  risk it. They engage in group sex, most of their sexual encounters occur when they are drunk, or high on drugs. In Is Homosexuality Normal?, Fields says that 41 percent of homosexuals in the United States admitted to having  sex with fellow homosexual strangers in public restrooms, 60 percent said they have had sex with strangers in bathhouses and 64 percent of  these encounters have involved the use of illegal drugs. To cap it , a research conducted by the Catholic Apologetics International in 2005 revealed that  homosexuality accounted for over 50 percent of  all AIDS cases in the United States of America despite the fact that  homosexuals account for only 1 to 2 percent of the country’s whole population.

Now, at that rate of promiscuity and prevalence rate, one wonders what legalizing homosexuality will mean in the fight against the pandemic in Malawi. With these statistics in mind, imagine how the prevalence rate will soar, how many vibrant brothers we will commit six feet deep and how much money our already broke government will be spending in providing free Anti- Retroviral Therapy Drugs. Surely as a country we can ill afford to give away all we have fought for in mitigating the pandemic and go back to square one because of legalizing homosexuality.

We also need to seriously think of the safety of our boys in the event of   homosexuality legalization. Imagine the relationship of a homosexual primary or secondary school teacher and his learners. Surely the learners would be easy prey.

Research worldwide has confirmed that children are the worst victims of homosexuality. In 2005, the Los Angeles Police, through its officer Captain William Riddle said over 30, 000 sexually abused children in the city were victims of homosexuals. This is in consistence with what gay activists Karla Jay, an English professor and Journalists Allan Young also said in their book The Gay Report, published in 1970 that 73 percent of all homosexuals have had sex with boys under the age of 19 and that Homosexuals commit more than 33 percent of all molestations in the United States.

These statistics attest to the magnitude of the threat that legalizing homosexuality, would pose to our children. We are a country already struggling to contain other form of child rights abuses such as trafficking and child labor and the last thing we would add on our shop list is the legalization of a practice more likely to escalate the abuses the rights of our innocent children.

And if our children are to embrace this behavior, what kind of a nation shall we become? One infested with homosexuals? I can bet my house on such a nation, still developing like ours not achieving meaningful development.

It is not the children only who would be left holding the wrong end of the homosexuality.  Studies and experiences in homosexuality legalized countries confirm that our villages, societies and cities are likely to experience increased cases of violence because of homosexuals.

The then Chief Magistrate of the New York City Criminal Court Judge John Martaugh said in 2004 that homosexuality account for half the murders in America’s large cities. It is also not by coincidence that over 50 percent of women on death row, according to the Lesbian News, are violent inspired convicted lesbians.

 These statistics point to the obvious. That something is unnatural with homosexuality and homosexuals. Why do homosexuals have a shorter life span than heterosexuals? Why do most  of them rely on alcoholism and drugs to have sex? Why are they often associated with violence?

Perhaps these are the questions that force many medical experts and psychiatrics to regard homosexuality and lesbianism as a form of a mental illness. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) only removed the practice as a mental disorder in the early 70’s after marching homosexuals stormed the Association’s annual conference offices for a number of successive years to force the association to scrap the condition as on mental disorder symptoms list.

Despite the removal, a majority of psychiatrics still feel homosexuality is unnatural and that people engaging in the practice have some forms of personal problems. American sexuality expert Lief says in his 2009 survey, Current Thinking on Homosexuality, that 73 percent of psychiatrics believe that homosexuals are less happy than the homosexual is a lesser jolly person. Probably this explains the findings of author Jerry Kaifetz who stated in his paper, Homosexual Rights Are Concern for Some, which he published in the Post –Tribune in 1992, that 50 percent of all suicides cases in the United States are attributed to homosexuality.

In light of these statistics and evidences we can hardly ask for more proof that homosexuality is evil and should not be condoned with or without the presence of donor aid. It is evil, unnatural and unwanted in Malawi. It is better to grow grey hairs in a poverty stricken house than die in infancy in a rich but evil abode. 

This article, the first of two is just for arguments sake. My Friend Hastings NDebvu will argue why Gays should stay illegal in Malawi and i will counter in the following article. Hastings is not homophobic, he actually wanted to write on the legalization but then we could have not argued...