Making History in the Chinkhoswe

By now, many of you have heard about the "gay marriage" that has taken place in Malawi, which has seen two men arrested for acts of gross indecency. Several online news sources, however, are missing some interesting facts.

First off: While undoubtedly the most high-profile statement of love by members of Malawi's LGBT community, and most public LGBT arrest in the country's history, this was actually not a wedding ceremony but a traditional engagement ceremony known as the chinkhoswe. Traditionally, during the chinkhoswe the couple is presented to the community, gifts are given, and most importantly, marriage advice is given to the couple by family and friends.

Steven and Tiwonge's chinkhoswe was held on Saturday, December 26th. Two days later, The Nation published the following article; click on the images for a larger version.


The first thing one notices, looking at the accompanying picture: one of the two men, Tiwonge, is dressed as a woman, makeup included. This could mean a lot of things - perhaps it's symbolic of the fact that this loving couple wouldn't be denied the intimacy of marriage if one of them was born a woman. But upon reading the article, that does not appear to be Tiwonge's intention. In fact, the two are not quoted saying anything political, no statement decrying their lack of rights in Malawi as part of its LGBT community. It's certainly possible the press intentionally avoided the 'activist' angle; but the overarching impression given by their chinkhoswe is that Steven and Tiwonge just want to have a life together, and are unafraid of telling the world that they love one another (which is statement enough). Of course, they did so at great cost, and they doubtless knew the consequences ahead of time...

So what's the story with Tiwonge's dress? Here are a couple of quotes from the article to shed light:

"Some lodge officials confirmed Tiwonge is their employee and that he claims to be a woman."
"The MC tried to comfort him by saying...'Don't cry Aunt Tiwonge.'"

Although the masculine "he" is used throughout the article, Tiwonge is consistently referred to as the bride, while Steven is the bridegroom. And Tiwonge, according to the article, self-identifies as a woman.

Now, in Malawi, differentiating between a gay man and a transgendered woman would probably just be seen as splitting hairs; many people here would prefer not to acknowledge the existence of homosexuality (at least in their own country), so as you might expect, gender identity is an even more elusive conversation topic. Thus, the labeling game isn't played so much - within and without Malawi's LGBT community. Interestingly, the two appear to self-identify as a gay couple, rather than as a heterosexual man and a transgendered woman; Steven says he's never been interested in women, and that he finally realized he was gay upon meeting Tiwonge (at church). At any rate, his lack of attraction to the opposite sex doesn't seem to hinder his feelings for Tiwonge.

Anyway, the plot thickens: this article appeared in Monday's edition of The Nation, one of Malawi's two daily newspapers. Later that day, Steven and Tiwonge were arrested by police in Blantyre on charges of gross indecency.

Right now, it's uncertain what exactly will happen to the two. Section 153 of Malawi's penal code prohibits "unnatural offences", and carries up to 5 years of imprisonment with corporal punishment, and Section 156 concerns "public decency," and can carry up to 14 years. (UPDATE: See Here.) They have been charged under Section 156.

I'm headed to Blantyre today, and hopefully while I'm there, I can get a copy of the penal code to study; in the meantime, I leave you with two quotes from yesterday's coverage of the arrest in the Daily Times of Malawi:

"The act is illegal. It is not allowed because the Penal Code forbids carnal knowledge against the order of nature...Police should take action because that is against the laws of Malawi."
- Mercy Mulele, Secretary, Malawi Law Society

"Unless the suspects were caught in the act the law cannot take charge against them...What these two people have done is expression of their legal rights. It is another way of testing our law which is silent on such matters. Here are two individuals who are expressing their sexual orientation as human beings. Therefore I do not see any reason why government should intrude in such an issue."
- Gift Trapeace, Director, Centre for Development of People