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Transgender Muslims in Malaysia win landmark cross-dressing challenge
ABC Radio Australia - November 7, 2014
A three-judge appeals court panel ruled that a provision of southern Negeri Sembilan state that bars Muslim men from dressing as women was unconstitutional, saying it "deprives the appellants of the right to live with dignity".
"It has the effect of denying the appellants and other sufferers of GID (gender identify disorder) to move freely in public places... This is degrading oppressive and inhumane," judge Hishamudin Yunus said.
The verdict overturned a lower court ruling in 2012 which dismissed the challenge by the three plaintiffs – Muslims who were born male but identify as women – over their arrest four years ago under the law.
The plaintiffs' lawyer Aston Paiva, said Friday's decision set a precedent for transgender individuals to challenge the Islamic sharia ban in other Malaysian states.
"The state law is still there and they can still continue to make arrests, but you can now go to the high court and challenge this," he said.
A Negeri Sembilan state legal adviser declined to comment on whether his side would seek to appeal the verdict in a higher court. The three plaintiffs were not in court on Friday.
Court ruling 'a win for all Malaysians'
Malaysia has a double track court system with state Islamic laws governing civil matters for Muslims, who comprise 60 per cent of the country's 30 million people.
Under state Islamic laws, men dressing or acting as women was punishable by up to three years in jail. Some Malaysian states also outlaw cross-dressing by women.
The case was the first attempt to overturn the prohibition on cross-dressing in the Southeast Asian nation, where homosexuality and transgender lifestyles remained taboo.
Executive director of the Women's Aid Organisation, Ivy Josiah, applauded the decision.
"This is a win for all Malaysians, as the constitution protects us all, irrespective of ethnicity, gender and class," she said. "Surely no court – civil or sharia – can refute the fact that human dignity is paramount."
Human Rights Watch in September called on the government to repeal all laws that criminalise transgender lifestyles, saying people face systematic and constant repression, harassment, mistreatment, social ostracism and "risk arrest every day".
The US-based group said transgender people in Malaysia faced worsening persecution due to the steady rise of conservative Islamic attitudes.
The abuses included arrest, physical and sexual assault and extortion by authorities, public shaming by forcing transgender women to strip off their clothing in public, and barriers to healthcare, employment and education.
Authorities were not accountable for their treatment of transgender people, the report said. (AFP/Reuters)
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