Malaysia gay law
Situation of LGBT People in Malaysia
This concise briefing paper gives an overview on the situation of LGBTI people in Malaysia based on reports from ILGA, Foreign Ministries, the United Nations and mayor Human Rights NGOs.
In August and September 2018 the story of two Muslim lesbians who were publicly caned under Sharia law in a universal forum in the state of Terengganu despite international and social protests made international headlines. (Human Rights Watch: Malaysia: Two Women Confront Caning for Homosexual Conduct, 21 August 2018 und BBC World News, LGBT rights: Malaysia women caned for attempting to have woman loving woman sex, 3 September 2018) This torture is not yet reflected in major reports like from the US Mention Department and Amnesty International who were published before.
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Englisch "Voice of the Malaysian People “ – Abbreviation SUARAM) together with FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights (FDIH) published an annual report on human rights in Malaysia, on two pages many local reports from 2017 are listed of discrimination and persecution of LGBTI people.
In the ILGA State Sponsored Homophobia Report 2017 pages 130-131 ther
The decision
Upper Tribunal
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Number: PA/11792/2016
THE IMMIGRATION ACTS
Heard at Field House
Decision & Reasons Promulgated
On 25 April 2017 and 6 July 2017
On 10 August 2017
Before
DEPUTY UPPER TRIBUNAL JUDGE LATTER
Between
lsl
(ANONYMITY DIRECTION made)
Appellant
and
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE House DEPARTMENT
Respondent
Representation:
For the Appellant: Mr A Briddock, Counsel
For the Respondent: Mr D Clarke, Home Office Presenting Officer (25 April 2017)
Mr T Melvin, Home Office Presenting Officer (6 July 2017)
DECISION AND REASONS
1. This is an appeal by the appellant against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal dismissing her appeal against the respondent's decision of 12 October 2016 refusing her application for asylum and humanitarian protection.
Background
2. The appellant is a citizen of Malaysia born on [ ] 1969. At the beginning of his submissions Mr Briddock indicated that the appellant identifies as a male and preferred to be referred to by the male pronoun and accordingly I have done so in this decision, although I have not amended the passages cited from the decision of the First-tier T
However, there was a time when the people who did not ascribe to heteronormative standards were not just tolerated in Malaysian community but were a crucial element of the state-building and development of the nation. In the early 15th century, there were reports of Malay androgynous priests, also established as sida-sida[10]. These individuals served on the side of the Malay sultans to preserve the sacred regalia and special powers of the Sultanate. They were typically male-bodied priests who wore women’s clothes and freely engaged in sexual relations with individuals of the same and also different sex. The sida-sida also were tasked to safeguard the female residents of the palace, a role that would not possess been given to them if not for their gender identity. Up until the 1950s, they were observed to still be functional in palaces. Even up to the 20th century, transwomen performers, known to Malaysians as “mak nyah” or mainstream media as “drag queens”, were favourably treated by the Sultan of Kelantan and heteronormative community embraced and cheered their artistic endeavours[11]. This is shocking to most as Kelantan is now one of the most religious states in Malaysia, regardin
Malaysia
Same-sex relations for men and women are Penal Code offenses under colonial-era “unnatural offenses” and public morality provisions. Consensual same-sex relations between men carry a hefty maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and whipping. Similar to its commonwealth counterparts, the law is rarely used to formally prosecute individuals, but rather as a tool to harass, undermine, and stigmatize people who identify as or are perceived to be LGBTIQ. Moreover, state Shariah criminalize consensual same-sex attachment and diverse gender identities and expressions with sentences that include public caning and imprisonment. Police powers are wide, and raids are oftentimes used as tools to intimidate gender non-conforming people through public morality laws, minor offenses laws, and state Shariah enactments, or under the guise of reasonable suspicion to search without warrants.
In September 2018, two women were publicly caned for attempting to be “lesbian.” Express Shariah provisions that criminalize transgender and gender-diverse people are routinely used to harass and intimidate them. These provisions were challenged in 2011, and a Court of Appeal judgment recognized that the declare