Gay Rights in Africa

Gay Rights in Africa

Photo from NYTimes.com      

The New York Times reported Sunday that a homosexual couple in Malawi had been arrested for, quite simply, ‘being gay,’ which is illegal in the African nation. The couple, both men, although one is transgender, had recently been engaged and featured in a newspaper; whose report is presumably what raised concerns in the Malawi government. Officials in Malawi decried homosexuality as “immoral” and blamed ‘the west’ for bringing it to their nation. This particular arrest, along with a few other pubic instances of gay activism that were strictly handled, has set Malawi against the modernized community, but Malawi is just becoming more anti-homosexual.

Homosexuals, and transgenders in particular, have always been targets of violence, legal discrimination, and political discrimination- during the Holocaust, for instance, homosexuals were one group persecuted by the Nazis, along with the Jewish community and gypsies, among others. In many countries, they are treated as second-class citizens- or not even seen as citizens at all. In Uganda, as the article points out, homosexuality may soon be punishable by death.

A nation can no more illegalize ‘being gay’ than they can ‘being black’ or ‘being tall’. Until Malawi and other countries around the world realize this, many people will have to live in secret and lie about who they are, keeping gay rights from being an issue in the national conversation, and, therefore, leaving the law unchanged.

The arrest of the young couple brought to light a serious issue of discrimination in a place where issues like these are rarely, if ever confronted. Adding the atrocity of this legal prejudice to the national conversation may give Malawi a chance to change their policies and, eventually, change the national disposition towards issues of gay rights. If nations like Malawi ever hope to be considered a part of the modern community, their governments must be able to legislatively and personally let go of old prejudices and allow all people to have equal rights. 

The US still has a long way to go before it can be claimed that everyone has equal rights under the law, but with the first legal challenge to California’s controversial Proposition 8 underway and top military leaders calling for a change in the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, America is headed in the right direction.