December 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Parliament of the African nation of Malawi has passed a law adding lesbian sodomy to its list of criminalized sexual perversions, despite international pressures to eliminate such laws.
Current Malawi law, which prohibits “unnatural offenses” and “indecent practices between males,” punishes male homosexual sodomy with imprisonment. The new law reportedly seeks to equalize the punishment for women.
Malawi came under heavy fire from international organizations in March of this year, after it convicted two men who held an “engagement” ceremony in public in an apparent attempt to defy the law, and sentenced them to 14 years in prison.
After a massive pressure campaign, Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika issued a pardon for the men, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was in the country.
Malawi’s 80% Christian population is strongly opposed to sodomy and supports the ban. Their view is reflected throughout the African continent, where 38 out of 53 states prohibit the behavior.
Countries that continue to ban homosexual behavior have come under attack in recent years by France, Germany, and other European Union countries, which seek to decriminalize sodomy worldwide. They are joined by several large “human rights” groups, which seek to establish homosexual behavior as a “right,” in contradiction to international law, which does not generally recognize it as such.