SINGAPORE: Much anger is fomenting in Singapore's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community after Malaysia's High Court on Thursday ruled that cross-dressing was illegal and would remain banned in what activists across Southeast Asia say is an affront to personal freedoms. “We have long struggled against prejudice and fear of gay and lesbians and transgender, so now it only continues,” said Sally Pho, a Vietnamese-Singaporean lesbian activist. She told Bikyamasr.com that “while we have seen positive moves in Singapore and other Asian countries, Malaysia's government continues to treat people like they are diseased.” A group of transgender Malaysian activists had pressured for the removal of the dress codes in the country in an effort to push freedom of expression. But the court dismissed an attempt by a group of transsexuals to challenge a law that bars Muslim men from wearing women's clothes. “This is yet another dark day for the Malaysia gay and transgender community," activist Monim Atef Aziz told Bikyamasr.com after the court refused to hear the case. The High Court in Seremban rejected a bid by four Muslim transsexuals who were born male to declare the Shariah law unconstitutional. The group of transgender activists were arguing that the country's constitution is responsible for upholding freedom of expression and forbid discrimination based on gender. The court said that the law cannot go over Shariah law, or Islamic law. This, for Singapore's LGBT community is exactly why they must band together with their Malaysian activists to continue the fight. “We must not stop giving up hope that change can happen. It has here in Singapore recently and it will in Malaysia,” added Pho. Malaysia has a population of around 30 million people, of which around two-thirds are Muslim. The four transgender citizens, who are in their 20s and work as bridal makeup assistants, local reports said, were “disappointed and distraught" following the verdict, said their lawyer, Aston Paiva. It was the latest setback for the Malaysian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, who in recent months has been forced to face government attempts to curtail what officials have called a “disease." Earlier this month, the ministry of education created a new seminar to enable school counselors to be “the frontlines to curb the spread of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) phenomenon among students," Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi. In order to create more action against the LGBt community, he said “the counselors should have the knowledge and understand the LGBT symptoms to advise students involved. “These counseling teachers, if they have the skill, understand the phenomenon can help to motivate, instil awareness among students and bring them back to the right path," he told a press conference after opening a seminar to help parents “deal with LGBT." Zarkashi added that the responsibility “to contain the LGBT symptom should not be burdened on certain parties only, but had to involve all quarters." Last month, the government held a seminar in order to “educate" parents to notice LGBT “symptoms" as they continue to push against the community. The Teachers Foundation of Malaysia has organized 10 seminars in the country to assist teachers and parents in spotting the signs of homosexuality in their children and students. According to one handout delivered to participants, signs of homosexuality in boys may include “preferences for tight, light colored clothes and large handbags," local media reported. Last month, Malaysia's Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom said that same-sex marriages would “erode the family institution" and called on Malaysians of all ethnic backgrounds to protest against gay rights in the country. It was the latest attack on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the country. He was commenting on the recent wedding reception of Malaysian gay Christian pastor Ngeo Boon Lin and his musical producer husband, American Phineas Newborn III, who were married in New York last year. The minister said that even the Christians in the country prohibited such practices. “The reception portrayed Malaysian society as confused. It's clear their motive was to fight for gay rights," he said. For the country's lesbian and gay population, the struggle for rights is an uphill battle. With the country's legal code based largely on the British system that was implemented last century during its occupation of Malaysia, and coupled with the growing power of Islamic clerics, creating openness and dialogue is often difficult. And they have the growing support from Singapore.
