Un unthinkable and unacceptable reinforcement of discriminating laws agains the rainbow community of Kuala Lumpur is about to be voted by the government soon.
Putrajaya’s Government is decided to go ahead with a new set of laws that foresees heavier and punishments for all people found guilty of practicing LGBT+ related acts (eg. Having sex with someone of the same gender, or being in a same-sex relationship, etc), by increasing the sentencing limits to the Syariah Courts – which is part of the criminal jurisdiction – according to the Act 1965-355.
Religious affairs minister – Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri – earlier this year said that “LGBT+ culture is not just against Islamic law, but even human nature”, and this is the reason why Putrajaya will push the agenda for the Act 355. Al-Bakri also added: “we cannot accept such practices. We just need to manage the issue with wisdom, inviting and educating them (the LGBT+ community) to return to the right path”.
Useless and unheard was the outcry from human rights groups and Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.
LGBT+ Rights in Malaysia
The country, unfortunately, is well-known non-LGBT-Friendly one, where the LGBT+ community faces legal charges that non-LGBT+ Malaysians do not experience at all. Sodomy, or sex with someone of the same gender, is considered a heavy crime and therefore it is punishable according to the Islamic law, being Islam the official and repressive religion of the country.
Breaking this law could mean being sentenced up to 20 years of prison and heavy corporal punishments, too often ending in real tortures.
The Human Rights Watch states that the discrimination against LGBT+ people is pervasive in Malaysia, a country where there is no legal protection for LGBT+ individuals.
LGBT+ people do not face death penalty here, differently from Brunei. In fact, in May 2019, George Clooney warned Malaysia and Indonesia against legislating a law allowing them to impose death penalty for homosexuality, as Brunei legislated and repealed. The response of the Deputy Foreign Minister – Marzuki Yahya – pointed out that “Malaysia does not kill gay people, and will not resort to killing sexual minorities, and though such such lifestyles deviate from Islam, the government would not impose such a punishment on the group.”
