LGBT | Malaysia

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Oppression of the LGBT

It is no national secret that the country is very much opposed to anything remotely LGBT related. In an article series done by the Huffington Post, they touch on the issues faced in the LGBT community in Asia

"Malaysia Staunchly Opposes LGBT RightsThe country’s prime minister recently compared the LGBT community to terror group ISIS.

Walk into any theater in Malaysia screening a movie with a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender character, and you can expect to watch a similar plot unfold: All LGBT characters will “die or repent” by the end of the film.

In a move that was considered to be an improvement, the Malaysian government’s Film Censorship Board issued a controversial guideline change in 2010.

“We are now allowed to show these scenes,” Malaysian Film Producers’ Association president Ahmad Puad Onah told Agence France-Presse. “As long as we portray good triumphing over evil and there is a lesson learned in the film, such as from a gay [character] who turns into a [straight] man. Previously we are not allowed to show these at all.”

Malaysia has long been unequivocal in its stance on LGBT issues.

The country’s embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak has reiterated time and again that Malaysia will not defend LGBT rights. Earlier this year, Razak compared the LGBT community to the Islamic State terror group. Both, he said, are enemies of Islam.

Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, has a divided legal system: There are, on the one hand, federal civil and criminal courts, but at the state level, Muslims use Sharia courts for religious and family issues. Homosexuality is condemned under both jurisdictions.

The country has retained the colonial-era penal code 377, which criminalizes “carnal intercourse,” and includes same-sex sexual activity and other sexual behaviors “against the order of nature.” It carries a punishment of whipping and a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Arguably the most famous case based on 377 has been the so-called “sodomy trials” of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Since 1998, Ibrahim, who was accused of having sex with a male aide, has been in and out prison as his case has moved through the courts.

In February, Ibrahim lost his final right of appeal and is now serving a five-year prison sentence. He has always maintained that the accusations against him were politically-motivated.

“From behind these prison walls, I feel a great concern and worry for my country,” Anwar said in a July statement. “We have gone through the futile process of changing leaders, but leaving the corrupt and obsolete system intact. We do not want piecemeal solutions but a serious commitment to reform and the end of corruption.”

The Anwar trials were covered extensively — and sometimes sensationally — by both local and international media. Thilaga Sulathireh, a Malaysian LGBT rights activist and one of the leaders of the ASEAN Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression Caucus, tells The Huffington Post that the trials have had a profound effect on the Malaysian psyche.

“For a sexually repressed state, the Anwar trials were pretty full-on with explicit details,” she says. “Given that, the LGBT issues have always been in the center or periphery of Malaysian politics.”

“This has also made it difficult for human rights defenders and activists to push for the human rights of LGBTIQ persons,” Sulathireh adds, “as the issues have been politicized and used as a political tool.”

The continued existence — and enforcement — of 377 “maintains the notion that LGBT persons are criminals or excluded in some ways in society or have less rights,” Sulathireh says.

There is a general lack of acceptance of LGBT people in Malaysia, activists say. Bullying in schools, discrimination in the workplace, exposure to violence and limited access to health care are some of the many challenges facing the community. There are concerns now that growing religious conservatism may further impinge upon the rights of LGBT people.

In 2011, an “anti-gay camp” made headlines after more than 60 schoolboys were “identified as effeminate” by their teachers and sent off for four days of “religious and physical education.”

An education official said at the time that the camp was meant to guide the boys back “to a proper path in life,” according to the BBC.

The plight of trans women in Malaysia has also been well-documented. A 2014 Human Rights Watch report described the many abuses trans women face, including “arbitrary arrest, physical and sexual assault, imprisonment, discriminatory denial of health care and employment.”

Earlier this year, nine transgender women were convicted by a Sharia court under a discriminatory law that prohibits “a male person posing as a woman.” Such “cross-dressing” laws remain in force in much of Malaysia, and are actively being used to target transgender people, Human Rights Watch said in June.

Despite the bleak outlook for LGBT rights in Malaysia, however, there has been progress, activists say.

As the discourse around LGBT issues and rights has evolved globally, “we are seeing the change in some Malaysian media, civil society, employers and people in general,” Sulathireh says. “There is more visibility.”

Ultimately, the activist says, “education and access to information in diverse languages is crucial” for the community to move forward.

“It is important for us to speak up against extremism, violence and oppression, and the use of religion as a tool to maintain the status quo and further oppress people,” Sulathireh adds. “I believe solidarity is important.” "

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lgbt-malaysia_us_5615359ae4b0cf9984d7cfae

Equality? What's that?

When it comes to the issue of equality, some people twitch involuntarily. Be it racism or sexism, equality has always had people from two different sides; those in power and those oppressed by it. Coming back to the issue of equality in the LGBT community, suffice to say that it is almost nonexistent in Malaysia from them.

"LGBT community will never have equal rights in Malaysia, tourism minister says

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz says LGBT people in Malaysia will never be able to lead the life they want as it is not allowed in Islam. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 ― The Federal Constitution accords equal protection to all citizens under the law but Malaysia’s lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) will never be able to lead the life they want, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has said.

The former de facto law minister claimed that this was because the “lifestyles” the LGBT community ostensibly leads goes against the teachings of Islam, adding that Islamic principles supersedes the the rights protected even by the country’s highest law.

“LGBT people, I am sorry but even though you argue that it your human right to lead your [life] but it will not be allowed here because it is not allowed in Islam,” Nazri told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.

“The Federal Constitution expressly mentions Islam as the religion of the federation, so there is no way for the LGBT to be given equal rights even though they may argue that human rights should be the rights of everyone,” the tourism and culture minister explained.

Malaysia’s LBGT community has been hopeful that change may come one day, inspired by the US Supreme Court decision in June this year to allow gay couples to get married across the country.

But Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said that Islam and its followers are still being tested by the threat of liberalism, and that advocates of liberal ideas have been posing “tough” challenges to Muslims here.

“This threat will ruin the Muslim identity because the liberal ones will take the easy route in matters of religious principles, and from there, groups such as liberal Muslims, LGBT, human rightism and many more will be born,” he said in his speech at the launch of the Malaysia Wasatiyyah Institute in his official residence in Seri Perdana back in May.

In June, Najib also said that gay parades and events of such nature are unsuitable for moderate Muslim Malaysia, and that Islam in the country was incompatible with extremes, be they conservative or liberal.

“Islam is a religion that promotes peace. Islam does not promote violence and teaches us moderation. It is not extreme nor it is too open.

“There is no need for events like a gay parade because it is too open,” Najib had said then."

It all stems to the fact that there is no discerning between state and religion here, whereby it is widely mistaken that they are one in the same thing. That is however, how things are run here.

Where is the love?

Although Malaysia has progressed as a nation, the issue of acceptance of the LGBT community still has far to go.

"Malaysian AIDS Council chief: Acceptance of LGBT community still low

According to Malaysian AIDS Council president Bakhtiar Talhah, the level of acceptance of the LGBT community in Malaysia is still low. ― Reuters pic -

PETALING JAYA, June 15 — The level of acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the country is still low.

Malaysian AIDS Council president Bakhtiar Talhah, in describing the situation as a “time bomb”, said this can be attributed to people of influence in society, who condoned hatred against the community.

“They say that being gay is immoral or bad,” he said when commenting on the level of phobia for the community in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

“It can come to a point where a man is denied treatment just because he is gay.”

He said areas such as access to healthcare could be compromised as the community would be reluctant to seek help.

He pointed out instances of distribution of anti-LGBT pamphlets and also courses on how to “cure” transgenders by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

“They should be informing transgenders that they have a place in society and not try to ‘convert’ them,” he said.

On hate comments that have been posted online by Malaysians in the wake of Sunday’s killings, Bakhtiar said it was worrying that regular Malaysians found it acceptable to make death threats against LGBTs.

“Is this because public policy condones the dehumanisation and criminalisation of LGBTs in Malaysia?” he said.

Another HIV activist, Andrew Tan, said the fact remained that stigma and discrimination exists based on many factors, including race, religion, sexuality or people living with HIV/AIDS.

“People take things to the extreme rather than practice tolerance and acceptance in their views or action,” he said.

“They just want to wipe those different from them off the face of the earth.”

Tan said if allowed to fester, such behaviour would extend into other areas.

“They will just go to the next step like into politics. It will be a downward cascade into hatred,” he said.

He said homophobia happened when people just refuse to understand issues revolving the LGBT community and think they are entitled to hurt someone.

Tan said the transgender community was more targeted as they were more visible in terms of appearance and mannerism.

“Whatever it is, a hate crime is still a hate crime regardless of where it happened,” he added."

Read more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysian-aids-council-chief-acceptance-of-lgbt-community-still-low

As with anything that has to do with the LGBT community, the stigma surrounding them doesn't help much as people continue to dehumanize them and see them as 'sampah masyarakat' that can't do anything except become a sex worker. With so much hate already circulating in the world, why spread more when all you need to do to show love is a simple act of basic human decency.

Persecution Persecution Persecution

The LGBT community in Malaysia has faced persecution time and time again. Stemming from the fact that by law, the national religion of Malaysia is Islam, our friends from the LGBT community are basically a walking offence in the country. It is sad to say however, that although the times have changed and mindsets have slowly started to shift, we are heading for a turn in the wrong direction with the LGBT community facing more and more persecution as the days go by.

"Malaysian LGBT Community Suffers More Persecution In Recent Years

IN PHOTO: Activists celebrate overturning a sharia law against cross-dressing at the Appeals Court in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya November 7, 2014. A Malaysian court on Friday gave transgender Muslims the right to cross-dress in a landmark decision to overturn an Islamic sharia law ban that could trigger similar challenges. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community in Malaysia cried foul after hate crimes escalated against the group. Transgenders pointed fingers at religious agencies which are exerting effort by organising “moral policing” to subjugate the minority.

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country composed of multiple ethnicities. Due to the fact that Islam is the widely practiced religion, the country also operates under the Sharia Law. Sharia Law is a legal system derived from Islamic edicts coming from the Quran, Islam’s holy book; the Hadith, accounts or narratives from the prophet Mohammad; and fatāwā or judgment of Islam academics.

Due to harsh interpretations of Sharia, the marginalised often suffer. In this case, the LGBT community, transgenders in particular, receive the brunt of severe punishments from edicts of the government. In each Malaysian State exists a religious department tasked with enforcing the Sharia Law. In recent years, these departments have been known to conduct raids in residences to catch violators.

In one such raid on June 16 of this year, nine transgender women were arrested and fined, two of them sentenced to one-month jail time, for being “a male person posing as a woman.” In other words, they were caught cross-dressing. According to Human Rights Watch, the transgender women were attending a private birthday party in a hotel when the raid took place. They pleaded guilty the day after they were arrested. The two sentenced to jail filed a petition and were released on bail.

In a landmark decision in November 2014, the Putrajaya Court of Appeal abolished the state’s punitive punishment against cross-dressing under section 66 of the Sharia law in Negeri Sembilan state. The three-judge panel deemed the law a violation of people’s constitutional rights including the rights to freedom of expression. Implementation of section 66 in Putrajaya had been suspended. This, however, did not stop other Malaysian states from executing the law.

In an interview for AM of ABC radio, Mitch, a transgender man and a manager of an organisation in Malaysia that helps the poor and needy, said that there had been cases of transgender beatings as well as killings. They called it hate crimes, though the police did not because they, LGBT community, were not recognised.

The LGBT community may claim victory over discrimination with the recent rulings, which made same sex marriages legal in the USA and Ireland; however, it still has a long way to go especially in countries with conservative views and strict laws."

Media Guidebook on LGBT Issues

We cannot deny that LGBT issues are somewhat of a taboo around here. NGOs have been advocating for better treatment and equality of the LGBT community, their latest efforts being a media guidebook on transgender-identity.

"KUALA LUMPUR: A gender activists group has released a transgender-identity guidebook in an effort to promote greater sensitivity by the media and public on LGBT issues.

Justice for Sisters volunteer S. Thilaga said the book was based on a media guide by the American media watchdog Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD), and translated to Malay and Mandarin and updated to include local phrases.

“Western sensitivity guides don’t translate in Malaysia, we’ve our own colloquial terms and local nuances with words like Mak Nyah and Pengkid,” she said.

The NGO printed about 1,000 guides for the media, LGBT allies and educators; while the public could also download it from JFS’ website https://justiceforsisters.wordpress.com.

The 44-page guide in Malay covered explanations on gender identity, acceptable terminology, problematic language, case studies and existing anti-transgender laws in Malaysia.

Transmen of Malaysia founder Dorian Wilde called for more sensitivity and less sensationalism by news media and bloggers when reporting on LGBT issues.

He applauded the English news portals and Chinese newspapers for their progressive stance on the issue, adding that English and Tamil newspapers were catching up too.

“However, Malay papers tend to actively shame the community, going beyond problematic language to making outrageous and defamatory statements,” he said.

Wilde urged the media to be respectful, saying there was no reason to go out of the way to insult and ridicule.

Both groups said the guidebook was not meant to provoke or alienate the media, but an attempt to improve public understanding on a usually taboo topic.

“Like racism, if we don’t talk about it, how will it be resolved?” said Wilde, adding that they would be open to dialogue with media and the public.

When contacted, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary Schave Jerome De Rozario said while NUJ was open to educating reporters on gender sensitivity, having dialogues with LGBT groups would be up to it’s the Exco’s approval.

NUJ president Chin Sung Chew said they could disseminate the information to its members, but it would be up to members to use it.

He added that the editorial tone was determined by the publication’s editors not the reporters and there could be cultural resistance from some publications.

“We shouldn’t speculate whether a person is transgender or not, journalists need to go by the facts especially in court and criminal cases,” he said.

Transgender issues have long been a controversial issue in Malaysia, as a Muslim majority country which criminalised cross-dressing.

The issue had become increasingly public following transgender rights activist Nisha Ayub receiving the International Women of Courage Award and a high profile court case over the constitutionality of anti-transgender laws"

It is an effort in the right direction, especially in terms of relating to the transgender community in Malaysia and how they are being portrayed in the mass media.