Malaysia Deputy PM Says LGBT+ People Should Be Tolerated, But Hidden

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Deputy PM of Malaysia, has said the LGBT+ community should be tolerated, as long as they remain behind closed doors.

“LGBTs have the right to practice whatever [it is] they do in private,” she said to the Malay Mail, before cautioning against “glamourizing” their lifestyle.

“Islam is the official religion [of Malaysia],” she went on to say, “whereby you have certain practices and it is there in black and white. As a Muslim, I have my preferences as to their rights it is the same [rights] as the people who do not believe in Islam.

“Homosexuality, there are laws [against it].”

Malaysia still criminalises homosexuality under Section 377A, an anti-sodomy law left over from British colonialism. Wan Azizah’s husband, former opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim, has been charged twice for breaking these laws, but has always maintained his innocence, claiming the arrests were politically motivated.

Anwar Ibrahim is poised to be the next Prime Minister once incumbent premier, Mahathir Mohammed, leaves office.

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