Auntie Tiwonge and Steven Monjeza celebrated their relationship at the place where Tiwonge worked. Very quickly ‘mainstream queer/ gay media’ published announcements of the ‘first gay marriage’ in Malawi. They were arrested on charges of gross indecency.

 

Auntie Tiwonge and Steven Monjeza celebrated their relationship at the place where Tiwonge worked. Very quickly ‘mainstream queer/ gay media’ published announcements of the ‘first gay marriage’ in Malawi. They were arrested on charges of gross indecency. Gender DynamiX (GDX) developed a media drive that highlighted to various media that this was not a ‘gay wedding’ as Auntie Tiwonge identified as a woman.

IGLHRC (the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, today known as OutRight International) IGLHRC, the Open Society Initiative for  Southern Africa (OSISA) and Amnesty International, and many other organizations both in Africa and internationally advocated on the couple’s behalf and wrote letters to the Malawian government to drop the charges. Read the full story, acknowledging Tiwonge as a [trans] woman.