Malaysian Human Rights Group Says It Does Not Support Same Sex Marriage

Suhakam, Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission, has put out a statement saying it will not be pursuing same-sex marriage in the country, the Star reports.

The statement comes after the country’s Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said such an agenda from Suhakam would not be acceptable.

“We have to remind Sukaham that our value system is different from the west,” he said. “We cannot accept, for example, LGBT, or marriage between men and men, women and women.

“Our concept of family remains the same, that couples with children, with their own children, is a family, even adopted children. But two men or two women is not considered a family.”

“Suhakam does not support same-sex marriages in Malaysia,” said Suhakam chairman, Tan Sri Razali Ismail.

"Suhakam refers to multiple media reports that gave the impression that Suhakam champions homosexual marriages in Malaysia. This is to state that we do not support same-sex marriages in Malaysia.

“While Suhakam believes and subscribes to the universality of human rights, Suhakam does not fail to take into account our context-specific values.

“However, Suhakam is steadfast in its position that no one has the right to discriminate LGBT [people] or treat them with hate or violence.

"The government cannot allow a situation where personal religious belief as well as political homophobia is a licence to terrorise the LGBT community.

"We would like to stress that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, should have the same basic rights as stated in the Federal Constitution," he said.

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