Minister's green light will fuel more hatred towards transgender community - NGOs
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zulkifli Mohamad’s call for religious authorities to take action against the transgender community could fuel hatred against them, warned NGO Seed Foundation.
In a statement, the trans-led community-based organisation urged Zulkifli (above) and the authorities to cease harassing the marginalised community and to instead uplift the transgender community without the agenda of rehabilitating them as “they are not a problem that needs to be solved”.
"Seed is extremely disappointed by the minister's statement giving full authority to the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) to arrest transgender people for the purpose of rehabilitation," said Seed.
Such statements would drive the transgender community - which already face continued persecution by the state and broader society - further into hiding, added Seed.
"There is a complete disregard by him in considering how these arrests will impact their daily life such as education, employment, access to healthcare, or access to justice.
"The statement will also no doubt fuel hatred against the transgender community which encourages more violence against them.
"Such threats of violence against a marginalised community does not belong in a mature and democratic society," said Seed, adding that transgender people, too, have their constitutional rights to live with dignity and not to be discriminated on their basis of gender.
Seed also pointed out there is no reliable evidence to show conversion therapy is effective.
"The existence of the transgender community is not a problem to be solved. The job of elected representatives should be to protect and uplift marginalised communities so that all Malaysians may prosper."
Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib (below) said the minister's "full licence" sent a terrible signal which may cause an escalation of harmful and discriminating actions, both institutional and vigilantism, against the transgender community.
"He should consider withdrawing his statement," he said in a statement today.
He recalled how Zulkifli, the then mufti of the Federal Territories engaged in a dialogue with transgender women in Chow Kit in 2017 with an intention to help them.
"As the mufti, Zulkifli hosted a delegation of transgender women at his office for discussions and called for reforms.
"His main message then was that people should not condemn, judge, or punish the community, but rather to find a common ground. Now, he is calling for their arrest. What happened?" asked Azrul.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International Malaysia interim executive director Preethi Bhardwaj urged the government to end its persecution of transgender and LGBT people at large.
“We oppose all forms of conversion therapy; it causes great psychological distress and harm to the recipient, even suicidal ideations, and should be outlawed.
“The authorities should also repeal all repressive laws against LGBTI people and implement policies that protect them from intolerance.”
Earlier yesterday, Zulkifli announced on Facebook that he was empowering Jawi to arrest transgender persons and “educate” them so that they “return to the right path”.
This comes amidst the online furore over revealing photographs cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat (below) posted of herself on her personal Instagram account.
This led calls for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to take action on the transgender businessperson.
Back in 2018, then religious affairs minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa had called upon the public to stop discriminating against transgender people to prevent members of the community from resorting to sex work.
