Talk:LGBT rights in Malawi

Malawian Constitution

The Malawian Constitution clearly protects against discrimination based on sex, which would include homosexuality. The conflict is between the colonial era Penal Code, which was created when homosexuality was still illegal in the colonial power, Britain, itself, and the post-independence Constitution. Discrimination based on sex is banned through article 20 of the Malawian Constitution.

To cite Article 20 of the Malawian Constitution of 1994:

Constitution Of The Republic Of Malawi, 1994

Chapter 4

Equality 20. -

1. Discrimination of persons in any form is prohibited and all persons are, under any law, guaranteed equal and effective protection against discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, nationality, ethnic or social origin, disability, property, birth or other status.

2. Legislation may be passed addressing inequalities in society and prohibiting discriminatory practices and the propagation of such practices and may render such practices criminally punishable by the courts.

---

Kevinkor2,

You are being overactive, and I think you are letting your beliefs in marriage being between a man and a woman get in the way of ordinary contributors.

I don't need 'extra proof' that discrimination based on sex is protected by the Ugandan or Malawian constitution, when it is in the Ugandan and Malawian constitutions.

If you have PROOF that sex DOES NOT refer to homosexuality or gender orientation, you should present it in the article, instead of deleting my contributions.

People have a right to know what the national constitutions have to say.

Stop deleting my contributions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MrSativa (talk • contribs) 15:42, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Sex in this instance would refer to gender and not sexual orientation. Sex(gender} and sexual orientation it two different questions.Ron 1987 16:49, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I agree. This is a misunderstanding. Sex would refer to gender (ie man and woman) and not sexual orientation. It would also be pretty odd as only South Africa currently has such a constitution. Contaldo80 (talk) 09:05, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Hi MrSativa, Ron 1987, and Contaldo80,

I come here from a related article, LGBT rights in Uganda.

Just like Ron 1987 has done with this edit, this edit, and this eidt, I had removed a consitution section from "LGBT rights in Uganda" with this edit.

However, I agree with MrSativa that he has found a reference, http://www.nyasatimes.com/national/malawi-law-which-criminalizes-homosexual-is-invalid-%e2%80%93rights-lawyer.html, that says that Malawi law which criminalizes homosexuality is invalid. Now, Lawyer Chrispine Sibande does not say this on the basis of "sex" being in the list, but instead on the basis of "other status". To quote from the nyasa times article:

The lawyer said same-sex marriage is covered in the Section by the words “other status”.

Because of this, I have reinstituted the Malawian Constitution section in this article with this edit, but changed the wording slightly with this edit.

--Kevinkor2 (talk) 02:42, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your work on this. I'm highly sceptical of the claims being made

Chrispine Sibande. She doesn't seem to be a notable individual, to whom we would give some weight. Non-discrimination based on "other status" strikes me as highly speculative. Nor as far as I can see are others backing Sibande's position. I feel uncomfortable giving too much coverage to her views. If we must refer then I think we leave it as one line. Something like: "Non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is not explicitly referred to in the [Ugandan/ Malawian] constitution; although lawyer Chrispine Sibande has recently argued that it may be covered under 'other status'. However, there has no been no legal ruling to this effect."? Contaldo80 (talk) 09:40, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

References

Lesbian sex

Lesbian sex is now illegal in Malawi.

http://sdgln.com/news/2011/02/10/malawi-criminalizes-lesbian-sex

Vis-a-visconti (talk) 17:48, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

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