Others made their own correlations between Zulkifli’s statement and the performance of elected representatives in Malaysia’s 222-seat parliament.
“In other words: they never work hard in the parliament?” read one comment.
LGBTQ rights advocates, however, say the government’s “ridiculous” position also points to a more worrying trend of state-sanctioned repression of the community, especially if it starts citing unverified sources that stigmatise sexual minorities.
“This misinformation reinforces the assumption that LGBT people’s sexual orientation and gender identity can be corrected, changed or are not real or as valid as cisgender heterosexual identities,” Thilaga Sulathireh of LGBTQ rights group Justice for Sisters told This Week in Asia.
“The fact is diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics is completely natural and normal. This has been proven by medical and other bodies,” Thilaga added. “The minister must retract and correct the misinformation.”
Malaysian law still criminalises certain consensual same-sex acts under the federal Penal Code’s colonial-era “unnatural offences” provisions. Muslims can also be prosecuted under parallel sharia criminal law nationwide for same-sex conduct or gender expression.
Two weeks ago, organisers of a “Glamping With Pride” event aimed at building LGBTQ support networks and health awareness in the community were forced to cancel the retreat after death threats and pressure from the authorities.
The incident came just months after a raid in northern Kelantan state that police had initially framed as a “gay sex party”. Civil society groups denied the claim, saying it was an HIV medical outreach programme.
This article was first published on SCMP.
Read the full article here
