Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard about the issue of homosexuality in Malawi. I can no longer maintain my silence, I must put in my 2 cents.
My sister called me last night, throwing a fit because she heard on BBC news that Malawi is about to legalize homosexuality because the British Government has threatened to isolate the country if the Govt. does not give in to their demands.
I certainly hope she was wrong; because the truth is, Malawians will generally never accept homosexuality, maybe in the next 50 years, when we have a new generation of youngsters in power. If the world wants us to legalize it and accept it, they're going about it the wrong way. Bullying the government won't change the opinions of the people.
Even if the President decides to sell out and accept the terms and conditions that come with this "donor money", he'll only be doing so just to help the economy of the country. What's going to happen is, we'll accept the money, spend it and the society will still shun those who come out of the gay closet.
I seriously think the British Govt and all these NGO's need to respect the laws, culture and traditions of Malawi. This is one of reasons we fought for independence and got it in 1964. We won the freedom to have our own laws and live the way we want to. Fair enough it is a human rights issue, but according to these "developed"countries, human rights also forbid parents to discipline their child using the "rod", and look how their kids turned out..tsk tsk tsk
If we ignored that human rights issue, rest assured, we're probably going to ignore this one too.
Until these people came out, Malawi (in my mind) was a pure and innocent country, with a culture so reserved and conservative that girls were not allowed to wear short skirts up until recently. Sure, there are gay people in the country, (some of them rich, married men, no names mentioned) but they have managed to stay in the closet for years, and I think if they want to come out, they should do so in a country that allows them to. If UK wants these people to be free to be gay, then they should be given free UK citizenship so they can be gay in the UK, not Malawi...:O
Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing against gay people, I just want these people to respect Malawi as a country.
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well I think it should be legalized too. Lets think about what it is these people are asking for, The right to walk out there and have the same rights that you and me take for granted. To marry the person whom they really love, and to not feel threatened by the law. These are all valid requests for anyone. Let's be honest, if gay people don't marry each other, then you're virtually asking them to marry heterosexual people. Then we wonder why AIDS and STDS are rampant? I say live and let live. A mMlawian gay man didn't choose to be gay the same way I didn't choose to be heterosexual. Men make me hot, and I didn't need ANYONE to tell me that. Why can't you grant that same right to your fellow Malawians instead of employ the cruel and back-minded "my way or the highway mentality" that Africans soooooo love to do. Just look at Dictatorships versus the poverty all over Africa, and you'll see for yourself how murderous it is to keep someone from their right to live and enjoy living.
ReplyDeletei think if it's going to be legalized it should be in our own time not being forced to legalise it cos that wont change anything. the problem is the "developed" side of the world had their time to adjust to homosexuality being an everyday part of life but most African countries are still largely governed according to some form of traditional culture. which is very against homosexuality, at least in the public eye.
ReplyDeletei mean in the USA i'm pretty sure there are some states where gays cannot get married, and if they do want to they move to a state where they can get married to follow the laws of the state. the same is true in this situation. unfortunately malawi as a whole was not ready for such public displays of homosexuality. maybe in the future as u mentioned when this younger generation who are generally more open to this lifestyle are in power there may be some realy changes to this issue but for now i see nothing of real substance happening to this issue. anything they do now will only be skin deep. and that my 2 cents
Having been born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and i understand only too well that culture in ingrained in our everyday thoughts and actions. I don't think Malawi or anyother country for that matter should legalise anything.Let us face it these people (gay/lesbian) are going to be stoned to death anyway by the umcompromising public before they can even fight for those rights they are been given. First, like you said there needs to be an understanding and acceptance before putting this as law!
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