Malaysia cannot accept equal marriage or LGBTI rights, the country’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday (21 September).

It was the latest blow to the increasingly persecuted minority in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

‘In Malaysia, there are some things we cannot accept,’ Mahathir told reporters, according to local media. ‘Even though it is seen as human rights in Western countries’, he reportedly explained.

The Prime Minister’s comments came as he met the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, known as Suhakam.

‘While we agree with Suhakam [on some things], we have to remind Suhakam that Malaysia has a different value system than the Westerners’, he said.

The Prime Minister said a family could only be considered a family if it was composed of a heterosexual couple and their children.

LGBTI rights in Malaysia

The LGBTI community has accused Mahathir of a backsliding in LGBTI rights in Malaysia since he took office. In the last two months, there’s been plenty to make LGBTI Malaysians feel afraid.

Malaysia caned two women for attempting lesbian sex. Police also raided the oldest gay club in the country. What’s more, ministers and politicians have spoken out against the LGBTI community.

Kuala Lumpur-based PELANGI campaign asked on Friday: ‘How many more hate crime you want to be committed under your government?’

Okau, as far as we concern, violence and hate crime against queer people, discrimination at workplace, hospital, etc, & bread and butter issues are urgent and we want to address that. How many more hate crime you want to be committed under your government? @chedetofficial https://t.co/JKaDt59BDi — PELANGI Campaign (@pelangicampaign) September 21, 2018

‘The LGBT community … has not received any respite in Malaysia Baru’ transgender group Justice for Sisters said earlier this month.

‘This is a stunningly bad announcement’ Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said of the Prime Minister’s comments.

‘While the Pakatan Harapan government pledged in their party manifesto to protect human rights, Mahathir just made it clear that LGBT persons need not apply’, he told Gay Star News.

He urged UN agencies and embassies in Kuala Lumpur to tell Mahathir his stance is unacceptable.

Malaysian law considers sex between two men ‘against the order of nature’. Section 377 of the Penal Code rules offenders can be jailed for 20 years. The law is similar to colonial-era legislation recently dismantled in India.

Islamic courts operating at state-level can also deliver punishment for sexual offenses, as was the case with this month’s caning.

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