{"id":56460,"date":"2024-01-11T21:15:15","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages"},"modified":"2024-01-11T21:32:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:32:40","slug":"do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages","title":{"rendered":"Do Malawi laws permit homosexuality, same-sex marriages?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>The Pope\u2019s recent announcement that Catholic priests should be allowed to bless same-sex marriages has sparked controversial debates, especially on social media platforms including WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook.<\/p>\n

There are some Malawians who vehemently hold the view that homosexuality is totally unnatural. Three sources of reference are usually cited to substantiate this claim.<\/p>\n

Firstly, the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality. Leviticus 20 verse 13 says that if a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed a detestable act.<\/p>\n

They must be put to death; their death is their own fault. Additionally, the genesis of marriage is believed to be between a man and a woman. Genesis 2 verse 24 says \u201cTherefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh\u201d<\/p>\n

Others argue that if God wanted to permit homosexuality, he could have created two men and two women and after that blessed same-sex marriages. One wonders if the Pope has privileged powers to override God\u2019s decrees. Secondly, others condemn homosexuality based on Malawi\u2019s penal code which criminalizes any homosexual encounter.<\/p>\n

Section 28 of the Penal code stipulates, \u201cany male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another male person, or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency with him, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male person, whether in public or private, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years, with or without corporal punishment\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lastly, some Malawians condemn homosexuality based on traditional and cultural beliefs. For instance, people in Malawi who exhibit homosexual traits are considered as being abnormal. Then there is another school of thought that efforts must be applied to ensure that homosexuals enjoy the same human rights as anyone else.<\/p>\n

First, proponents of homosexuality argue that there is scientific evidence that sexual orientation is natural. Others argue that since no one can choose to be homosexual, criminalising homosexuality is unfair and uncalled for.<\/p>\n

In addition, homosexual relationships have also been observed in many animal species including birds, monkeys, and reptiles. It is also fallacious to insinuate that every sexual encounter in animals including human beings results in procreation.<\/p>\n

Second, proponents of homosexuality argue that all human beings regardless of their sexual orientation and creed must enjoy all the human rights as enshrined in the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

Some people have even asked pertinent questions, how many homosexuals have been put to death in Malawi in accordance with the Bible\u2019s decrees? Why did the Joyce Banda administration suspend the implementation of Malawi\u2019s penal code that criminalizes homosexuality?<\/p>\n

These two thought-provoking questions substantiate that the Bible and Malawi penal code may be outdated. It is still mindboggling to envision Malawian priests blessing same-sex marriages while the law of the land does not permit them to do so.<\/p>\n

The most proactive approach was for the Pope and the Roman Catholic at large to lobby the State governments and human rights organizations so that laws are enacted in favour of homosexuals.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Malawi<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. The Pope\u2019s recent announcement that Catholic priests should be allowed to bless same-sex marriages has sparked controversial debates, especially on social media platforms including WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook. There are some Malawians who vehemently hold the view that homosexuality is totally unnatural. Three sources of reference are usually cited to substantiate this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":56459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,371,234],"class_list":["post-56460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"\nDo Malawi laws permit homosexuality, same-sex marriages? - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pope\u2019s recent announcement that Catholic priests should be allowed to bless same-sex marriages has sparked controver ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do Malawi laws permit homosexuality, same-sex marriages?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pope\u2019s recent announcement that Catholic priests should be allowed to bless same-sex marriages has sparked controver ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-11T21:15:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-11T21:32:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/01\/sm_1704996011.548897.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Do Malawi laws permit homosexuality, same-sex marriages?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-11T21:15:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-11T21:32:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages\"},\"wordCount\":548,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2024\/01\/sm_1704996011.548897.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Malawi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/do-malawi-laws-permit-homosexuality-same-sex-marriages\",\"name\":\"Do Malawi laws permit homosexuality, same-sex marriages? 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