Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga have been given the maximum sentence of 14 years in prison with hard labor. Their sentencing judge, Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa said, "I am giving you a scary sentence so that the public must be protected. Malawi society is not ready to see its sons marrying other sons, nor daughters marrying daughters."

I don't know enough about the situation to know if anything can make this better or worse, or if they are doomed—I can't see how they could survive so many years with that stigma in prison.

[P.S. I would say that while Madonna is not the Queen of Malawi, her silence (so far—I've heard rumblings a statement might happen) is the African elephant in the room. Certainly she should think twice before asking her LGBT fans to support her Raising Malawi charity, though it could be argued that punishing the youth of a country for one draconian law and one outrageously barbaric sentence might not be the best plan of attack.]