Pardon my cynicism

It would have been little surprise had my mother's SMS delivered the announcement (she often gets to the news first; I have to wait for a BBC briefing), but it was already coursing through the mostly expatriate crowd — the gay couple sentenced to 14 years in prison had received a presidential pardon.

My astonishment quickly gave way to happiness for the two men, but I didn't feel particularly cheerful about Malawi. Madonna last week condemned the sentence as a step backward for the country (Elton John joined the debate as well, penning an open letter to the president in The Guardian), but this pardon is only superficially progressive. Had it not been for international pressure, the couple would remain in prison. Only after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, decide to release the men, and only with continued scorn for their actions. Earlier in the course of the trial, Bingu had called homosexuality "evil and very bad before the eyes of God." His views haven’t budged — while announcing his pardon, he added that "These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws." He went on: "In all aspects of reasoning, in all aspects of human understanding, these two gay boys were wrong — totally wrong."

Never mind the pejorative use of "boys" (then again, the laws on homosexuality stem from the colonial era, so why not maintain the racist language of the white boss?) — this is not a country moving forward. Not long after Bingu made his announcement, the Minister of Gender and Children, Patricia Kaliati, told the BBC the couple risk rearrest if they continue their display of homosexuality. The Minister of Gender — gender! Kaliati is a firebrand, to be sure, the first to comment on any controversy, but her remarks underlined the lack of reasoned discussion about homosexuality in Malawi. (Meanwhile, Madonna declared it "a historic day for Malawi." Really, Madge?)

"Malawian gay couple got pardoned!" my mom wrote in her SMS. "Was there a big celebration?"

Hardly.