12

How are homosexual people being treated in Malaysia?

Adolescents perceived as homosexual are the targets of bullies and hate crimes

(UNESCO, 2015). The LGBT community in Malaysia is constantly under attack by both government officials and the public. Transgendered women faced sexual and physical assault, abuse, beatings and were even allegedly murdered. Though police officials refuse to acknowledge these as hate crimes, an LGBT activist retorts by saying that the deceased aren’t able to speak for themselves. Malaysia’s government is currently being led by Pakatan Harapan party. Ironically, they absolutely refuse to accept LGBT equality, calling it “unacceptable”, and saying that LGBT people should return to the “right path”, even though their campaign manifesto is to make Malaysia’s human rights record respected globally (Ghoshal & Sulathireh, 2020). Even as other countries around the world have progressed in accepting LGBT as part of society, after WHO (World Health Organization) declassified

Malaysia is still one of very few countries who prosecute individuals for being

transgendered (“Transgender Woman Murdered in Malaysia,” 2020). Additionally, any individual caught involved in same-sex relations will be

whipped, fined, and imprisoned for up to 20 years (How, 2020). With both the

authorities and the public against them, the LGBT community of this country is

left unprotected, and hateful acts towards them not being taken seriously as

biased-motivated crimes. Where are their human rights?

Crimes involving the LGBT community in Malaysia

In 2017, Sameera Krishnan, a transgendered woman working in a florist shop was stabbed all over her body and shot three times. Her funeral was held on the

24th of February, 2017 - her birthday (“Transgender Woman Murdered in Malaysia,” 2020).

In April of 2018, two Muslim women were caught trying to have sexual relations in a car. Both received six strokes of a rattan cane and were fined RM3,300

each (Beh & Reuters, 2018).

T. Nhaveen was out buying burgers with his best friend T. Praviin when they were being harassed by their former high school classmates who taunted him for

being feminine. T. Praviin managed to escape while T. Nhaveen was continuously assaulted and allegedly raped with a blunt object, as there were injuries in his

genitals. He was pronounced dead without ever regaining consciousness since the night of his assault (Dermawan, 2017)

Protests against Same-Sex Marriage

“Do you think a gay couple should have the same rights as a (heterosexual couple)?”

“No I don't. I really don't. I don't think it's fair”

“To the gay couple?”

“Well, no but the regular couple, they worked so hard, you

know? And the gay couple...they want more.”

US Anti Same Sex march (2015)

“When you say more, do you mean equal?”

“Yeah, they want equal, yeah…”

“And that's just too much.”

(The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, 2016)

Protesters outside the Taiwan Legislature as they announce the legalisation of same sex marriage (2016)

For something as simple as people who just want

equal rights in loving who they want to as consensual adults,

there are a lot of protests that want to stop said people from

being able to experience one of the milestones of human life

that a majority of the world set for themselves:

marriage.

“It's against religion.”

“Tradition states that it is a man and a woman who get married”

“It goes against nature.”

“Marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman.”

“People get married to have children and same sex couples biologically cannot procreate thus cannot be married.”

“If gay marriage is legalised, what’s next? Beastiality? Child marriage? Poligamy?”, etc.

Protesters show up right before France legalizes same sex marriage and adoption (2012) (Carpenter, 2005)

These are some of the more common arguments from protesters of gay marriage.

The arguments showed are insubstantial for a number of reasons, the first being

that when it comes to religion, people refer to holy books that were written at a

different time and therefore some of the teachings might not be as applicable in

today’s world or misinterpreted after the many generations that have passed

since their creation or have been through multiple translations. For example, all

biblical texts were originally written in ancient languages 2000 to 3000 years

ago. Therefore translations without the help of the original writer or knowing

about the customs, language, circumstances, cultures, etc. of the time it was

written could have been subjective or biased to the person translating an

attempting to interpret the ancient texts. The text from the Hebrew Bible,

Genesis 19:1-11 is widely used by religious people against homosexuality but

is now understood to have nothing to do with it and instead, the “sins”

mentioned were actually people going against hospitality (Espin, 2010) Moreover, if religion were to be included in the law and the bible was used in

defence of homophobia, adultery should also be illegal as well marrying a

divorced woman (Matthew 5:31-32) and eating rabbit, pork or shellfish

(Leviticus 11).

It is also being urged that religious exemptions of laws that discriminate

against people should be repealed (Epsin, 2010). The homophobia,

discrimination and prejudice also go against teachings of the bible according to

John 13:34-35 (“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:

just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people

will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”)

("OpenBible.info", 2020)

The Shariah law is also being reanalysed for its interpretations as light is

being shed on how homosexuality is actually acknowledged and is neither

prohibited nor to be punished while sexual diversity is celebrated in several

passages of the Qur’an. It is also said that the discrimination and suppressuin

of homosexual people condradict the fundemantal principles of the Shariah

anf are also contradictory to the human rights law (Rehman, &

Polymenopoulou, 2015).

A study conducted in 2017 showed that when people used religion against

same sex marriage, it was partly explained by conservative ideology, sexual

prejudice, political conservatism, opposition to equality and mostly

woman as an argument against same sex marriage (or its Adam and

Eve not Adam and Steve), again there are traditions of the world that

would be completely unthinkable in today’s day and age. For

example, in the USA, it wasn't traditional for a marriage to be between

interracial couples, in fact it was illegal. Traditional gender roles that

were practiced in a time where it was uncommon for a woman to work

and earn for herself. There are also traditions that a majority of the

world think of as wrong and are trying to change such as child

marriages, genital cutting, etc.

Thus giving the conclusion tradition does not always = good.

Homosexuality has been recently supported by scientific studies to also be

influenced by biology, thus thwarting any argument that starts with “Its

unnatural”. A recent study found two genes: SLITRK6, that sits on

chromosome 13 and TSHR that sits on chromosome 14, that have shown

possibility in influencing sexual orientation. Neuroscientist Simon LeVay

discovered that the SLITRK6 gene to be active in the hypothalamus of male

mice fetuses just days before being born and states how that period of time is

said to be crucial for sexual differences. In 1991, he also discovered how the

size of the hypothalamus was different in heterosexual and homosexual men

(Coghlan, 2017)

As well as the “fraternal birth order effect”, where a build up of a mother’s

antibodies after her first biological son can increase the chance, at high

concentrations, to influence the sexuality of the following male children

(Balthazart, 2017).

Next, implying that the purpose for marriage is to procreate, this

brings to question if infertile people should get married. If there is no

objection to “sterile couples, old couples and couples who simply do

not want to procreate” getting married, what grounds are there for the

onjection of same sex marriages?

And lastly, the slippery slope of arguments, implying that if leeway

were given to gay marriage, other “obominations” would soon

follow. These types of arguments tend to be beleved by the public and

can divert from the problem at hand, which is if same sex marriage

would be a bad or a good thing. One must remember to step back and

logically think through these implications before proceeding. Same

sex marriage is between two consensual, legal adults who want to be

officially unite. In the cases of beastiality and child marriage, consent

cannot be given (Carpenter, 2005).

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

United States

According to Smith (2018), the reasons for same-sex couples in the United State to seek for the legalization of same-sex marriage are parental rights and spousal

recognition. Female couples are the one who seeks for parental rights while male couples would like to seek for spousal recognition. This is because female

couples are more likely to form families with children while most of the male couples experienced HIV/AIDS in their lives, which make them realized the

importance of spousal recognition for the illness or death of a partner.

Massachusetts was the first states in

the United States to legalize same-sex

marriage in 2003 (Smith, 2018).

However, same-sex marriage is

legalized in the state but not in federal

law. Hence, it was not a full union for The United State had legalized same-sex marriage due to the concept of “marriage

equality” on June 26, 2015 (“US Supreme Court,” 2015). Justice Anthony Kennedy stated

in the court that “no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest

ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family…These considerations lead to the

conclusion that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the

person.” (Stephens, 2020, p. 273)

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

France was the fourteenth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage on

May 18, 2013 (Sénac, 2018; “French same-sex marriage,” 2013). The reason for

France as a Republic took a long time to legalize same-sex marriage is because

the vote for same-sex marriage law only took place since 2013.

Besides, the intention of France to legalize same-sex marriage was to solve the

problem of unequal citizenship, which caused by discrimination and the violation

of equal rights (Sénac, 2018).

However, there are many oppositions to the French law. A lot of

demonstrations had been organised since November 2012. They think the

legalization of same-sex marriage was against the concept of “traditional

family” in terms of psychological, political chaos embodied and social

(Sénac, 2018).

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

Taiwan was a country which has less discrimination against homosexuality in

Asia. Besides, Taiwan also provides education on gender equality and sexuality

(Chen, 2018). On May 24, 2017, the Constitutional Court in Taiwan ruled that the laws preventing same-sex marriage should be banned as this violate the citizen rights to equality (Jeffreys & Wang, 2018). After two years from that day, which is May 24, 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage (Jeffreys & Wang, 2018).

China

China hasn’t legalized same-sex marriage as the marriage law in China did

prescribe legal marriage should be a union of a male and a female (Cho & Kam,

2018).

Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang (left) was the first male couple in China to apply

for official registration for marriage in 2015.

They have been together for one year and want to try whether they can register

to marry. However, the office director disapproved their application and

indicated that he will only register for them when they want to marry women

Statistics of Same-Sex Marriage

United States

France

As shown in the bar chart above, we can see that the number of same-sex

marriage in the United States is increasing since 2013 (United States Census

Bureau, 2019; “Nearly 1 million U.S. households,” 2020). France has legalized same-sex marriage on May 18, 2013 (Pew Reasearch

Center, 2019). There were more than 40,000 same-sex couples get married

between 2013 and 2018 (“France marks five-year,” 2018).

According to the bar charts shown above, there is also a decrease in the number of same-sex marriage in both the United States and France in recent years.

Statistics of Same-Sex Marriage

Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on May 24, 2019 (Jeffreys & Wang, 2018). There are a total of 4021 same-sex couples, which

comprises of 1,248 male couples and 2,773 female couples get married in Taiwan since May 2019 (“4,021 same-sex couples,” 2020).

Apart from the total number of same-sex marriage, there is also an increase in 15.1 per cent of public acceptance of same-sex marriage from 2018 which is 37.4 per

cent to 2020 which is 52.5 per cent (“4,021 same-sex couples,” 2020).

Effects on the children and family

There are often concerns raised regarding the challenges that a

family with same sex parents face and if they’re any different to

those with parents of different sexes and if these challenges affect

the children of these families. These concerns prove valid when

statistics show how the absence of a father or a mother shows to

have adverse effects in later years of a child’s life.

Girls with absent biological fathers were found to experience sexual

activities at an earlier age and were more prone to teenage

pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy in turn, could lead to other

difficulties such as an increase of mental and physical health

problems, lower educational and occupational achievements and a

lack of social support. On top of that, children that come from teen

pregnancies have shown to have an increased risk for abuse and

neglect (Ellis, et al., 2003).

There has also been research that showed care from a non maternal

figure in the early stages of a child’s life could lead to an insecure

infant -parent attachment relationships and aggression and

noncompliance during toddler years all the way through preschool

(Belsky,2001). Studies also showed that as these children grow into

adulthood, they could show lack of feeling and possess violent or

antisocial tendencies (Fitzgibbons, 2015). However, these studies were conducted with absent parents. What of

those with both parents, just of the same sex? Well, a recent study

showed that children from same sex parents reported no differences

in general health, emotional difficulties, coping behaviour and

learning behaviour when compared to children with parents of

different sex. Be that as it may, the study also showed that same sex

parents eperienced more parenting stress (Bos, Knox, Gelderen, &

Gartrell, 2018).

Along with the content of this handbook, it could be deduced that the

parental stress can be affected by external stressors and a societal

expectation for there same sex parents to not perform as well as

parents of different sex. A longitudinal study also revealed that

regardless of sex od parents the children as teenagers were functining

well and that the closer they are to their parents, the better they were

at school. Another study conducted in 2014 showed that children

from families with same sex parents showed no difference when

compared to children from heterosexual parents in terms of academic

performance, social development, cognitive development,

psychological health, substance abuse and early sexual activity

(Meaning, Fettro, & Lamidi, 2014).

A meta analysis conducted in 2010 also showed there were no

differences in behavioural problems, self perceptions of

cognitive and physical competence, security attachments to

parents and interest, effort and success in schools between

children raised by same sex couples compared to opposite sex

couples (Biblarz, & Stacey, 2010).

These studies, however, noted the importance of parental and

familial stability despite sexual orientation when it comes to

the significance of the children’s outcomes. To conclude,

familial stability is more of a factor when it comes to the

wellbeing of a child rather than the sex of the parents. This

could be because certain traits that are often paired with the

mother and father are not necessarily mutually exclusive to the

sex of a parent.

“As a gay dad, I’m not a mom, but sometimes I

think I have more in common with moms than I do

with straight dads. I mean, these straight dads that

I know are essentially weekend dads; they don’t

parent with the same intensity that I do or that their

wives do. In many ways, despite being a man, I

am a dad, but I am like a mom too.”

(Biblarz, & Stacey, 2010)

In conclusion,

Homosexuality did not just “appear” in this modern era. It has in fact, been around since ancient times. Unfortunately for Southeast Asians, same-sex

marriage has still not been legalized. The LGBT community are still being forced to live in the shadows in fear of being prosecuted by the authorities. It will

take a lot for the government to change their beliefs and learn to accept LGBT instead of regarding them as unnatural.

In marriage, only heterosexuals are considered as “normal”, whereas homosexual people are considered abnormal, immoral, and may even be

considered unfilial and disrespectful to the family. However, times have changed. There is an increase in people who are concerned and care about homosexual

people. The main reason for the United States, France and Taiwan was gender equality. In their point of view, the issue of gender equality is very important.

Every citizen in their country has the rights to equality. No one should be deprived of the right to marry even if their sexual preference is different from

“normal” people. Homosexual people should have the right to marry their loved ones too.

Depriving people of a basic human right that can lead to further discrimnation, prejudice and violence towards a certain group of people goes against the

vision of creating a better world. Hopefully in the times to come, with more awareness being created and the destigmatization of people outside

heteronormative boxes, people will be more accepting of those different from them.

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