Where does Malaysia stand on gay rights? Despite promises of Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan, nobody knows
- One government minister criticises a feminist rally for including LGBT campaigners, another claims there are no gay people in Malaysia
- Has Pakatan Harapan forgotten its pre-election pledges – or is this a cynical attempt to court the conservative Muslim vote?
An outburst by a Malaysian minister who criticised a feminist rally attended by gay rights campaigners is the latest sign the government is reneging on pre-election vows to improve the country’s dismal human rights record, critics say.
Islamic Affairs Minister Mujahid Rawa sparked uproar among activists when he said the presence of members of the gay community at the Women’s March Malaysia on Saturday was “shocking”, an “abuse” of democracy and an attempt to “defend practices that are against Islamic teachings”.
The rally, which was supposed to mark International Women’s Day and was attended by ordinary citizens in addition to activists and non-governmental organisations, had made a series of demands to improve women’s rights, including an end to child marriage, a dignified minimum wage for all and an end to gender-based discrimination.
In Mahathir’s Malaysia, no gay rights and no free speech
But its demand to end discrimination based on sexual orientation drew opposition from the minister, who said the government was unable to recognise something that was against the law.
They say that nearly a year after the comparatively liberal Pakatan Harapan led by Mahathir Mohamad ousted the right-wing Barisan Nasional coalition last May, it has shown little sign of making good on those promises. If anything, activists say, it is showing signs of abandoning them in a bid to win the support of the country’s largest voting bloc – rural, Malay Muslims who remain deeply conservative and unsympathetic towards human rights issues.
Activist Thilaga Sulathireh, of the NGO Justice for Sisters, said Mujahid’s comments had served only to inflame public sentiment and divert attention from the rally’s original premise: women’s rights.
Singapore and Malaysia: so near to each other, so far to go on gay rights
Thilaga said Pakatan Harapan’s stance on the issue appeared similar to that of its predecessor.
“I don’t think this reaction is new, it’s quite consistent with the policies and the stances taken in the past [by the Barisan Nasional]. But if the new administration is built on keeping democratic spaces open, on the rule of law, it is important the government does not get selective in the way it is treating freedom of assembly and the rights of people.
“They’ve said LGBT people shouldn’t be discriminated against as all are equal under the law. Now is a critical time for the government to act, call for restraint and make efforts to educate the people while ensuring everyone is safe.”
Exactly where Pakatan Harapan now stands on the issue is unclear. The government has remained largely silent on Mujahid’s statement, despite the minister’s claim that his view is backed by the prime minister. But activists point out that Mujahid is not the only Pakatan Harapan minister to have made apparently anti-gay statements recently. Just weeks ago, Tourism Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi said on a working visit to Germany that he was unaware that any gay people even lived in the country.
On the other hand, some Pakatan Harapan backbench members of parliament have been vocal in support of gay rights.
“Focus on the rally demands; stop the demonising of the LGBT community,” said Pakatan Harapan MP Charles Santiago. “What we really need in Malaysia is a radical transformation of society based on equality and justice.”
Mahathir Mohamad claims LGBT rights are ‘Western values’
The organisers of Women’s March Malaysia have called on Pakatan Harapan to step up and be inclusive in its policies towards women, regardless of their ethnicity, age, gender or sexuality.
“The non-recognition of LGBT women acts as an attempt to exclude and erase an entire segment of population of women. Without such an intersectional and inclusive approach, all of our measures towards building a more peaceful, harmonious and developed nation will be hampered,” it said.
Meanwhile, some experts suggest that the government’s failure to rein in anti-LGBT rhetoric is strategic and aimed at “political point scoring” with conservative Malay Muslim voters.
“It knows that it is for the moral vote. It is craven and panders to the common, most conservative denominator shared across ethnic and religious lines,” said gender studies academic Alicia Izharuddin.
She called on Pakatan Harapan politicians to “separate their own personal religious beliefs from policy.”
Meanwhile, police have confirmed they are investigating the organisers of the march for allegedly not obtaining the relevant permit.
