Justice for Sisters calls on the Minister of Religious Affairs to remain moderate, fair and factual in his response to the Pride Care: Queer Stories and Sexual Health awareness event to be held in conjunction with Pride.*
We are deeply concerned by the divisive, and unnecessarily threatening statement by the minister against LGBTIQ people.
Against the backdrop of ongoing state-led discrimination, his statement effectively widens the gap LGBTIQ people face in accessing protection.
As a direct consequence of discrimination, LGBTIQ people experience high levels of trust deficit in public institutions, resulting in their hesitating to access government health care and welfare services as well as report cases of discrimination and violence.
Further, research consistently finds a high level of desire to migrate among LGBTIQ people.
Withdraw Threats, Protect Rights
The minister must withdraw his calls for an investigation into the organisers and prospective Muslim participants, as well as for the event to be cancelled.
People, regardless of their religious background, must be able to engage freely and safely in dialogues and activities about LGBTIQ people, as this is well within their freedoms and rights safeguarded under the Federal Constitution and international human rights law.
We are concerned that the threats against Muslim people for participating in these activities will further deepen the negative perceptions and shrink spaces to build understanding between LGBTIQ people and non-LGBTIQ people, particularly Muslim communities and healthcare providers in Malaysia.
Stigma against LGBTIQ people in public healthcare settings is well documented and noted by researchers and medical experts.
About 42 per cent of health care providers in a Malaysian study held stigmatising or negative views of trans people, resulting in poor quality of services.
Such unnecessary restriction and ongoing threats of investigation violate the rights of LGBTIQ people, the organisers and other prospective participants — to non-discrimination, privacy (free from unnecessary state intervention into private lives), dignity, freedom of expression and assembly, and the ability to impart information, among other rights, safeguarded under Articles 5, 8, and 10 of the Federal Constitution.
We remind Dr Naim of his own statements, including in Parliament, where he has said that LGBTQ people are entitled to their rights under the Federal Constitution. We further reiterate that religious beliefs cannot be invoked as a legitimate ‘justification’ for violence or discrimination against LGBTIQ people.
Threats Against Human Rights Defenders And LGBTIQ People
Additionally, the threats of investigations against human rights defenders working on the human rights of LGBTIQ people further exacerbate an already hostile environment, making it difficult for human rights defenders to undertake their work effectively.
Articles 6 and 7 of the United Nations resolution on human rights defenders explicitly safeguard the right to “study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters” and “the right, individually and in association with others, to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance.”
The State, on the other hand, under Article 2 “has a prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms, inter alia, by adopting such steps as may be necessary to create all conditions necessary in the social, economic, political and other fields, as well as the legal guarantees required to ensure that all persons under its jurisdiction, individually and in association with others, are able to enjoy all those rights and freedoms in practice.”
We strongly condemn the use of the state apparatus to prosecute and threaten the rights of marginalised populations, like LGBTIQ people and their allies.
Impact On LGBTIQ People’s Well-Being And Safety
Finally, we call on the minister and others to stop using discriminatory and harmful language such as ‘normalisasi budaya songsang’ (normalisation of deviant culture) to describe LGBTIQ people.
This, in turn, normalises hate against LGBTIQ people, resulting in significant impacts on LGBTIQ people’s well-being.
A 2022 study shows that the prevalence of mental disorders among the Malaysian adult LGBT population is more than double that of the general population (80.3% vs. 29.2%).
Meanwhile, a 2021 study reported that 56.4 per cent of LGBTIQ respondents stated that anti-LGBT statements by politicians caused them increased stress. 33.6 per cent noted that they had experienced more than one form of discrimination or violence.
Other research also shows an increased sense of stress as well as anticipated and actual discrimination by state and non-state actors following such harmful statements.
Such discrimination and exclusion are prohibited under international human rights law, as they can amount to incitement of discrimination, hostility and violence against LGBTIQ people.
We call on the Minister of Religious Affairs to engage LGBTIQ human rights groups to eliminate discrimination against LGBTIQ people in Malaysia.
Malaysia belongs to everyone, including LGBTIQ people.
* Globally, LGBTIQ people commemorate Pride annually in June as a reminder of the struggles and achievements of the LGBTIQ movement against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), commonly known as LGBTphobia.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Ova.
