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Transgender Malaysians targeted as religious authorities' influence grows, LGBTI community says
ABC Radio Australia - July 5, 2015
"We have cases of transgender [people] that have been killed," said Mitch, a transgender man. "For us, we call it a hate crime. For the police they don't call it that, because for them these people are not recognised."
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are largely unrecognised in Malaysia. Homosexuality as well as oral sex, sodomy and cross-dressing are illegal in both the criminal code and sharia law.
Representatives of Malaysia's LGBTI community said the laws were largely unenforced in the past, but that had changed in recent years. In June, nine transgender women were arrested for cross-dressing and were either fined or jailed by a sharia court.
Transgender woman Sulastri said her community was living in fear as pressure increased. "They [transgender people] are so scared to go out... scared to go out because it is so hostile at the moment," she said.
Both Mitch and Sulastri help run a centre for the poor in central Kuala Lumpur called SEED, where people can receive meals and learn skills to eventually get a job.
Many of the centre's clients are also transgender. But the centre is in jeopardy of closing after the government decided to cut funding.
Mitch said he believed the government was under pressure from religious authorities to enforce Islamic law, providing a possible reason as to why arrests had increased.
"Honestly, I think in Malaysia there is this silent war between the religious agencies and our constitution. The religious agencies want to be in power in Malaysia," he said.
He said the attitude of authorities also meant physical attacks were on the rise. "We know of these cases where a group of people will just go beat up a transgender," Mitch said.
Sulastri said some had also been killed. "We are being bullied and discriminated in the schools, even the universities and colleges. Discriminated at jobs, you know. Not able to find work," she said.
Malaysian homosexuals also face abuse, disownment
Members of the gay community agreed transgender people were facing increasing abuse.
"For the trans people it is has definitely become harder because they are at the forefront... and are receiving the brunt of retaliation from authorities," Pang Khee Teik said.
He said in parts of Malaysia gay and lesbian people were left alone if they were discreet.
But Pang Khee Teik said things were getting harder for everyone in Malaysia's LGBTI community. "I often receive stories of young people who are either being punished, beaten up or thrown out of their homes who just discovered they are gay," he said.
In recent years, some government departments made attempts to stamp-out homosexuality. In 2011, a Malaysian state education department ran a camp to try and stop boys from being gay.
Malaysia's film censorship board also said it would only allow a homosexual character to be in a film if the character repented before the end of the movie, or died.
While marriage between people of the same sex is becoming a major issue worldwide, Malaysia's LGBTI community says that is not something they are even considering.
Activists such as Sulastri just want homosexuality and cross-dressing to no longer be illegal. "We want to reduce the stigma, the discrimination. We just want people to accept us and understand us for who and what we are. We just want to live like other people," she said.
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