McDonald Phiri

Earlier this year, McDonald Phiri crashed his bike near his home in southern Malawi. Laid up for months, the 49-year-old relied on an outreach worker to deliver the HIV prevention medicine that he took daily. This service was provided through a specialized clinic run by the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), a group that supports gay men, such as Phiri, as well as transgender women.

Before the accident, Phiri himself had volunteered as an outreach worker for CEDEP, so he understood that in a country where homosexual activity is illegal, the clinic was a lifeline.

We, the [men who have sex with men], it’s tough in our country to be free. Here in Malawi, it’s tough even to go to the hospital. Some of the health workers are just talking shit about you.

They can’t even go to the shop and buy lubricants. People, they ask you, ‘How do you want this?’

Phiri had actually been fired from a job just because he was suspected of being gay.

The harassment only got worse after the Trump administration started cutting HIV services. People in Malawi saw how Trump’s election has galvanized anti-LGBTQI+ activities, including efforts to harass and restrict transgender individuals and calls to roll back gay marriage.

Phiri said that then fueled rumors in Malawi that members of the LGBTQI+ community were to blame for the loss of U.S. support for HIV programs.

They said that we are not human beings. We are like dogs to them.

While marginalized communities are not to blame for the Trump administration’s funding cuts, they have suffered disproportionately under them. That includes CEDEP, which lost its U.S. funding in March. The organization was forced to close two of its four clinics. While the facility near Phiri’s home remains open, it had to shut down its outreach efforts. That left him without access to his HIV prevention drugs as he recuperated.

He was diagnosed with HIV a few months later.

It was tough, but I’m getting through with so many advice from my friends. They tell me, ‘Don’t cry Mackey. There are no ones going to die. It’s not the end of life.’

A few months after his diagnosis, Phiri is still angry, but less about his status and more about the dismantling of CEDEP’s programs, which had proved to be so effective.

Are we going to suffer? Are we going to die? I hate this president.