Ex-president says gay OK
The former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, has criticised Malawi’s laws against homosexuality as an obstacle in the fight against HIV.
Mogae was on a five-day visit to Malawi in his capacity as an ambassador for the Champions For An HIV-Free Generation initiative and told a May 25 news conference that Malawi should ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity was not a reason for criminal penalties, arrests or detention.
“People who practice homosexuality should not be criminalised or stigmatised to avoid the spread of new infections,” Mogae said.
Malawi extended its anti-gay legislation in February to outlaw sex between women for the first time.
Section 137A of the Malawian criminal code, “Indecent practices between females”, states that any woman who, in public or private, commits “any act of gross indecency with another female”, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a prison term of five years.
A Malawian gay couple were arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison last year after they held an engagement party. They received a presidential pardon after worldwide condemnation.
