Malaysia is a conservative country, where homosexuality is considered illegal under an act of unnatural offences 377 and the penalty would be long prison sentences of up to 20 years and canings. As for the Muslims, they would receive a punishment that is under Syariah law. Therefore, life for a gay person in Malaysia cannot be easy. They could not identify themselves of their sexual orientation freely because homosexuality is illegal and prohibited in Malaysia.
An article in The Star by Loh (2005) titled ―Homosexuality more about politics than biology concludes that regardless of whether homosexuality is inborn or nurtured, the greater question is: Where does society draw the line in sexual behavior? If some of us choose to express our homosexuality, what should a society‘s attitude be without demeaning homosexuals as persons? These are questions that every society needs to address and to see if they can embrace diversity and treat all members as equal.
In Malaysia, homosexual activities have been around for quite a long period of time but not discuss openly until it was highlighted by the local press (Ho, 1998), especially during the trial of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, in September 1998. Since then, the Malaysian local journalist has provoked the discussion on sex and gender openly, which has given the gay people a medium to communicate and popularized homosexuality in our country (Thirumalai et al, 2009). According to Ho (1998), Malaysia print media have served as public representative to structure the social reality of homosexuals. However, most of the published articles were relied on expert’s view, who is either the prominent politician or religious leaders. For example, an interview with Abdul Kadir Che Kob, an officer from the Malaysian Islamic Affairs Department describes homosexuals as ―shameless people and homosexuality is a sin worse than murder (Ramakrishnan, 2000). As a result, Ho’s (1998) study has resulted of a total of 74% of the news articles were structured in a negative way due to the experts’ extreme opinion and thought. Additionally, local press have also highlighted the seriousness of being a homosexual person, which has indirectly implemented the idea of homosexuality is definitely prohibited and not acceptable in our society to the readers (Thirumalai et al, 2009). However, not every gay person in Malaysia is afraid. Instead, many gay Malaysians have accepted homosexuality as normal and openly introduce themselves through non-verbal behavior. For example, lesbianism and tomboyish behaviors are more obviously seen everywhere around us.
As stated earlier, homosexuality has been around us for a long time. Gay people are everywhere; shopping complex, garden or even in school. Therefore, it depends on your acceptance for the homosexuality in Malaysia as we know that gay people would not ‘extinct’ in the future. Even the establishment of People‘s Voluntary Anti-Homosexual Movement (PASRAH), an organization that aims to eliminate homosexuality by imposing harsh penalties and suspended gay gathering places has yet, needed to know that they are always around us and continue to exist, no matter how.
Read more at,
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,IRBC,,MYS,3ae6aac548,0.html
http://tiltedworld.org/2008/10/06/of-pride-and-prejudice/
References:
Ho, V. (1998). Malaysian Group Launches Antigay Movement. Kyodo News Services, October 21st. Retrieved from, http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/world/malaysia/mynews001.htm
Thirumalai et al. (2009). The representation of homosexuality: A content analysis in a Malaysia Newspaper. Retrieved from, http://www.languageinindia.com/oct2009/ponmalarnewspaper.pdf
Homosexuality 