Tag: malaysia

Malaysia bans leading human rights coalition for ”promoting gay rights”

Malaysia’s Home Ministry has banned and accused the country’s leading human rights coalition of pursuing gay, lesbian and transgender rights which “run contrary to Islam” In a move that has been denounced by human rights groups including Amnesty International, Malaysia’s Home Ministry on Wednesday issued a statement declaring the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (Comango) illegal… Read more »

The life of gay people in Muslim Malaysia

While life as a gay young person growing up during the 1980s certainly was rough, I know that many people had it much worse. And many still do. As I contemplated living in Malaysia, I had to ask the question What would life be like for me as a gay man in Malaysia? While the… Read more »

Human Rights Watch calls for end to Malaysia’s sodomy law

Global human rights group Human Rights Watch have called on Malaysia to repeal its colonial era law banning gay sex as the government continues to use it to harass Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Global human rights group Human Rights Watch have called on the Malaysian Government to cease its legal harassment of Opposition leader Anwar… Read more »

Same-sex marriage: The final destination?

At last count, 14 countries have legalised same-sex marriage. In Asia, the issue is gaining steam in Vietnam and Thailand as its governments are considering legalising same-sex marriage and civil unions respectively. Is this a cause all gay people should get behind? Malaysian gay activist and co-founder of Seksualiti Merdeka Pang Khee Teik writes that… Read more »

Homophobia & Transphobia: The Story in Malaysia

Despite Malaysia being a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons has reached “new levels of intensity” according to Human Rights Watch’s latest report on Malaysia. For this year’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, IREX spoke about the state of LGBT rights in Malaysia with Julian Sanjivan, a Community… Read more »

Malaysia still curtailing LGBT people’s rights, says Human Rights Watch

Malaysia’s human rights record criticized again in report to the UN Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Malaysia of violating international standards against discrimination with their words and actions against LGBT people. HRW submitted a wide-ranging report to the UN on Malaysia’s human rights failures, which included curtailing freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression… Read more »

Malaysia: the reality behind the headlines

After a year of headlines about shockingly homophobic statements from the government, Gay Star News visits Malaysia to find out what life is really like for LGBT rights activists there Out of all Asian nations, Malaysia has the dubious honor of collecting the most negative headlines on Gay Star News in the last 12 months.… Read more »

Malaysia hears Christmas call for tolerance for LGBTs

Malaysia’s most read online newspaper has published a Christmas call for tolerance towards LGBTs just days after a prominent lawmaker warned Malays about adopting foreign views on homosexuality Malaysia’s most read news website has published a Christmas call for tolerance for LGBTs from a reader. The Malaysia Kini website published the article ‘Bethlehem revisited –… Read more »

Human Rights Watch tells Malaysia to stop vilifying LGBT people

Leading human rights organization sends letter to Malaysian PM saying his discriminatory policies are against the principles of UN member states Leading global human rights defender Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to the Malaysian prime minister asking him to stop discriminating against LGBT citizens. In the open letter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul… Read more »

Malaysia Says No To Gay Characters On TV, Radio

The government of Malaysia has banned television and radio shows which feature gay characters. The ban, effective immediately, was reported by The Star. Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D’Cruz told The Star that the ban was meant to curb the “influence” of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. State-owned… Read more »