World is home to gays too

Each time political parties, be it the Barisan Nasional coalition or the opposition, condemn marginalised communities, it only reflects the stupidity of the party members who shoot their mouth off without understanding the issue affecting these communities.

One such foolishness was displayed by PAS Youth against American singer Adam Lambert’s concert in Malaysia in October last year. A self-confessed gay, Lambert’s concert, according to PAS Youth, promoted homosexuality and would be obscene, uncivilised and unsuitable. PAS Youth went so far as to chant “we oppose gay artistes”.

Well, Lambert came and performed, adhering to the strict rules laid out by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry. What remains, however, is the fact that political parties in Malaysia have zero consciousness in understanding the truth behind the reality of life, that is, the world is home not only to the heterosexuals but also the homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals.

With regard to the Lambert issue, the fact that homosexuality is not a disease was made clear by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1973. With its declaration, APA instantly “healed” millions of troubled individuals by simply saying “Never mind, go ahead with what you’re doing, just learn to live with it.”

This expert medical statement further strengthens the fact that homosexuality is not a dirty word for people to use and abuse. It is the mentality of parties like PAS Youth and the narrow-minded ulamas or Islamic scholars who keep badgering homosexuals as sick people that needs to be “healed”.

How did PAS Youth make the equation that Lambert’s concert advocated homosexuality? When in 2009 a former Cabinet minister was said to have sexually harassed a female bar worker, why did PAS Youth fail to wail that sexual harassment as an issue was taken lightly by the Cabinet?

When all else fails and stupidity is deployed, it is a clear sign that political bodies like the PAS Youth best close shop.

Respect or shut up

When Lambert himself had agreed to follow the guidelines to ensure his performance invited no controversy, what was bothering PAS Youth that it lost all modicum of sense? Yes, understood that PAS leaves no stone unturned in promoting Islam, a religion which states homosexuality as maksiat. But then Islam in itself is not a religion that passes judgment on fellow human beings; on the contrary, it is a religion that propagates love and compassion for God’s creation.

If PAS Youth was worried about Lambert’s antics on stage, then the concern could have been relayed in a mature manner with no personal attacks on homosexuals. Why can the political parties not “grow up” and understand an issue well before making a fool of themselves? It is shameful to witness time and again the third-class mentality of political parties in protesting against an issue they are ignorant about. If respect is hard to come by, then such party members best shut up.

When Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin came out via his blog on March 30, 2010, did the world come to an end? No. Instead, for Martin, the announcement that he is gay was simply “too heavy for me to keep inside”. And he went on to say: “I think that sexuality is something that each individual should deal with in their own way. And that’s all I have to say about that.”

And when Martin spoke at the Human Rights Campaign national dinner in Washington DC about his coming out, he received support from the event’s keynote speaker Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to United States President Barack Obama. Jarrett spoke of the string of gay teen suicides across the country and said: “No young person should have to endure a life of relentless taunts and harassment just because they are gay. On behalf of President Obama, I want to make it clear the administration is firmly committed to working with you and other advocates.”

For Martin, writing his memoir and thinking about his twin sons whom he fathered through a surrogate mother, were the catalyst for his coming out of the closet.

But in Malaysia, homosexuals are condemned. They are often portrayed as individuals with mental problems and require counselling to “return to the right path”. There are very few voices that dare lend support to these people. It is because of the existing fearful climate that many homosexuals here are forced to lead an “in the closet” existence.

Stop discriminating against homosexuals

It is an irony that while the homosexual community in Malaysia is low-profile, yet they are being discriminated against. The fear of being ostracised and losing their jobs has caused many gay men and gay women to keep silent about their sexual orientation, of not being able to talk about their relationship problems, if any, with their uninitiated straight or heterosexual friends.

It is a wonder how long more must the homosexual community in this country live a life surrounded by prejudice, fear, discrimination and condemnation? Why are homosexuals ridiculed for what they are and treated less human just because they have the courage to be truthful to themselves and lead an honest life?

Recently, fellow Malaysian Azwan Ismail found himself the target of condemnation when his confession on YouTube about being gay was chided by many and with some even making death threats against him. Azwan now fears for his life and avoids going out alone and hanging out in public spaces.

What was to be an extension of help on Azwan’s part has backfired all because of the degenerative mentalities that abound in Malaysia. Azwan’s purpose of coming out of the closet was never to seek attention or “popularity” but rather to give hope and respond to the many accounts of suicides and attempted suicides by the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual teenagers and adults.

Azwan, likes the rest of the homosexuals in Malaysia, knows that homosexual activities are illegal in Malaysia but in spite of that, he gathered courage to lend support to fellow homosexuals abroad who were ending their lives because of the overwhelming feelings of fear and loneliness.

Perhaps it was an oversight on Azwan’s part in failing to realise the backlash that would come his way. Indeed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom wasted no time in saying that gay activists were trying to promote homosexuality. He even said officials might take “appropriate action to prevent this from spreading because it would hurt Islam’s image”.

Would Jamil Khir care to clarify just how gay activists are promoting homosexuality? Obviously, this minister needs to be educated on the issue of homosexuality because homosexuality is not a campaign that can be promoted

.Making matters worse were the remarks from the ever-ignorant mufti of Perak, Harussani Zakaria, who said Azwan should not have made an open declaration that “derided his own dignity and Islam in general”. To Harussani, how is that being truthful to oneself can be deriding?

Then there was the jester, PAS Youth leader Nasrudin Hassan who wants the federal government to step up efforts to curb the activities of the homosexual community. He urged Jakim (Islamic Development Department) to act on gay activities at all levels as they were becoming increasingly pervasive. Nasrudin made his own conclusion that there were “shocking” attempts to promote the “gay culture” to the masses through films like “Anu Dalam Botol”, a film about a transsexual couple.

What about gay rights?

For the ill-informed Khir Jamil, Harussani and Nasrudin, Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in spirit of brotherhood”. Article 5, meanwhile, says “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

It is unfortunate that not only are Jamil Khir, Harussani and Nasrudin ignorant about the existence of the human rights charter, they also cling desperately to religion as their only barometer in gauging who deserves to live and who deserves condemnation.

The silent voice of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on this issue belittles his 1Malaysia propaganda where he goes on saying “People First, Performance Now”. What has Najib to say about the death threats received by Azwan, who is a citizen of Malaysia? Before Najib feigns ignorance over this issue, he should be reminded that his counterpart Barack Obama has nothing but respect and admiration for the gay community back in America. How does Najib view the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals in Malaysia? Is there compassion or is there abhorence for them on his part?

The homosexuals in Malaysia are taxpayers and their votes makes a big difference in elections. But how does the goverment treat them? There is nothing but utter contempt for them. What is preventing the ulamas in this country from learning and understanding the issue of homosexuality? If the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian revolution, could be persuaded by a pre-op transman in the early 1980s to issue a fatwa which declared that sex reassignment surgery was permitted since it was not mentioned as forbidden in the Quran, the holy text of Islam, what is holding the ulamas of Malaysia to think out of the box?

At the end of the day, it is all about understanding, acceptance and compassion which the politicians and ulamas in Malaysia do not have. This shows in the way they treat the marginalised communities, threatening and bullying them into so-called rehabilitation at the slightest opportunity available.