Peter Tachell on Properly Identifying Tiwonge Chimbalanga, Imprisoned in Malawi
Karen Ocamb
2010-05-24
http://www.lgbtpov.com/2010/05/peter-tachell-on-properly-identifying-tiwonge-chimbalanga-imprisoned-in-malawi/Last Thursday, May 20, I was among many who reported on the horrendous sentence of 14 years hard labor in prison for Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, arrested last December for simply holding an engagement ceremony. This started out last year as a remarkable story about a same sex couple who wanted to marry so badly, they knowing put themselves at risk by holding an engagement ceremony in a country that abhors homosexuality.
Along the way, I noted that Tiwonge Chimbalanga identified as a woman. While I didn't call Tiwonge "gay" in the body of the recent story on their sentencing – I did write "Malawai gay couple" in the title because that's how most reliable sources upon whom I depended for information identified the couple. Last January, for example, The international Times online headlined their story: "We have been beaten in jail, say first openly gay couple in Malawi. The Huffington Post's story last Friday , written by Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was entitled "Malawi sets grave example with conviction of gay couple." The New York Times titled their story, "Gay Couple in Malawi Get Maximum Sentence of 14 Years in Prison."
