LFL said the vilification of the LGBT/transgender community serves to help no one and will only harm the very citizens it is supposed to protect.
This follows a statement by deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary yesterday that the government intends to hand out heavier punishments against the LGBT community by increasing the sentencing limits in the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).
“In a time when the country is in crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is disappointing that the deputy minister chooses to focus on the vilification of the LGBT community, which is nothing more than a tired and cheap political ploy to detract from the real issues currently affecting Malaysian citizens,” LFL coordinator Zaid Malek said in a statement.
“This is especially more obvious when we consider the fact that Malaysian-Muslims are still in a state of shock and confusion by the 40-year long halal meat cartel scandal that was exposed quite recently – yet the spotlight is again cast on LGBT instead.”
Zaid said the “targeted harassment” by the government against the LGBT Muslim community invades and harasses their rights and privacy and is in violation of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which forbids any discrimination on the basis of an individual’s gender.
He said LGBT Muslims are entitled to equality and deserve protection from laws that target them solely due to their sexual orientation.
He also condemned Marzuk’s statement that religious enforcers have been told to take stern action against those who cross-dress, “which indicates that the enforcers have been instructed to target transgender Muslims specifically”.
He urged the government not to take “such a restrictive view of Islamic law” and follow the footsteps of other Muslim majority countries that have recognised the legitimate rights of the transgender community.
“Egypt and Iran have issued fatwas since the 1980s that allow gender reassignment surgeries, and even Pakistan has enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in 2018 which is a formal recognition of transgender rights in Pakistan,” Zaid said.
“It is obvious, therefore, that the recognition and protection of the transgender community is not contrary to the precepts of Islam and is in fact mandatory under our Federal Constitution.”