Fridae

The Guardian of UK which has been following the case closely reported on Jun 8:

They became an international cause celebre after being sentenced to 14 years in prison under Malawi's draconian laws against homosexuality.

Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (right) on the front page of The Nation newspaper on Dec 28, 2009. Caption reads: "Steven and his 'bride' Tiwonge during 
their chinhowswe [engagement ceremony]"

But today the story of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, the first same sex couple to seek marriage in Malawi, took a further twist when it emerged that they had separated and one of the men now has a female partner.

[Although the couple has been charged for having a gay relationship and media reports have correspondingly described the couple as 'gay,' it has emerged that Tiwonge Chimbalanga, one half of the couple, identifies as a woman and has lived as one all her life.]

Outrage over their convictions for gross indecency and unnatural acts last month gave way to relief when the country's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, freed them on "humanitarian grounds".

Steven Monjeza and Dorothy Gulo (right)

Their separation was called as a "tragedy" by one campaigner who blamed it on homophobic threats and abuse. Monjeza, 26, has begun a relationship with Dorothy Gulo, a 24-year-old from Blantyre. 

Monjeza, who faced family hostility towards his previous relationship with Chimbalanga, said he no longer wanted to be associated with homosexuality. 

"I have had enough," he said. "I was forced into the whole drama and I regret the whole episode. I want to live a normal life ... not a life where I would be watched by everyone, booed and teased."

Chimbalanga, 20, said Monjeza had found a female lover "to hurt" him. "But I am not worried. You cannot force love, and nobody forced him when we did our symbolic wedding in December."

He insisted that he did not resent Monjeza's decision. "I will also marry because there are lots of good men around. I will remain a gay," he told the Guardian.

Malawi's Nation newspaper, which broke the story of their traditional engagement ceremony in Blantyre last December, quoted Steven Monjeza as saying that he no longer wanted to be associated with what he called "gay trash" as he had found real love in Gulo.

Gulo, 24, reportedly described Monjeza as "a real man capable of doing to women what other men ably do in bed."

"I have tried him on two occasions and he proved to me he can live with a woman. I was impressed with him when my curiosity got the better of me and here I am. My only worry is what Chimbalanga would do if he found out." She was quoted as saying.

Said Monjeza: "We were pardoned but I know the law can bounce back on us if we are not careful. Although I claimed that I still love Tiwo, I did not mean it. I have never had sex with him as was revealed in court. That is why the medical examination failed to establish any anal penetration. I was coerced into the whole thing."

Monjeza also claimed he was bundled into a car by unidentified men and taken to Lilongwe for a press conference last week.