West turns Africa into gay battlefield - RW Johnson in Cape Town – Times Online

January 17, 2010

Western evangelists and gay rights groups are stoking Africa’s bitter rows over homosexuality, writes RW Johnson in Cape Town

The trial of a young male couple charged with unnatural practices and gross indecency after announcing their engagement in Malawi was adjourned last week when one of the accused collapsed in court while enduring jeers from the public gallery. Photo

Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, was made to return with a mop to clean up his own vomit, even though he has malaria. Photo

He and his boyfriend, Steven Monjeza, 26, have been held in Chichiri prison, Blantyre, for more than a week — in order, the judge says, to protect them from mob violence.

Chichiri has a reputation for overcrowding, disease and homosexual rape. The couple say they have been badly beaten and Peter Tatchell, the British gay activist, describes their conditions as appalling.

Such scenes will only increase the pressure from western human rights activists and donor countries on Malawi’s government to moderate its draconian anti-gay laws, for which the couple have provided a test case. They face up to 14 years in jail. Read complete article – by RW Johnson in Cape Town – Times Online

Related links:

British MPs condemn Malawi gay arrests - Peter Tatchell

Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of Hate – by Jim Burroway - – Box Turtle Bulletin

U.S. Evangelicals’ Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push - By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN – New York Times- International Herald Tribune

Gay in Uganda, and Feeling Hunted - By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN - New York Times- International Herald Tribune

The Three U.S. Evangelicals at the Heart of Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill - BY MICHAEL A. JONES