Monday, January 4, 2010

Gay Malawi Couple claims abuse in Prison


Last week, I told y'all the Malawi couple being jailed for getting in engaged. Well, things are getting worse for Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza. Since their imprisonment, the couple has claimed to been beaten and harrassed.

And the pressure of proving their innocence is breaking them down:

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.”

This is heartbreaking!

I believe in Tiwonge and I hope his strength will keep them together.

source

4 comments:

Paul Benjamin said...

This is terrible! I can't even begin to imagine having to spend years in prison, simply for publicly wanting to express feelings for someone you love. This just shows that there is MUCH more work still left to be done!

Stan said...

Bless their hearts! I hear things are not much better in Uganda either.

Unknown said...

This is just heartbreaking. Although it is so nice to see the strength of Tiwonge, his partner sounds near broken, and in need of his partner's shoulder. I wish them the best of luck in navigating these treacherous waters.

SteveA said...

This is making me cry - please prayer for strength for them!

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.