The Atlantic Wire
written by John Hudson
Wednesday October 17, 2012
Your deep-V's aren't welcome here, Dov Charney. The Malaysian government has begun organizing seminars aimed at helping parents and teachers identify latent homosexuality in children. One of the principal warning signs? V-neck T-shirts. It'd be sort of funny if it weren't rooted in a wildly un-self aware bigotry. Singapore news outlet AsiaOne has the details on the guidelines taught by the Teachers Foundation of Malaysia:
The list ... categorizes lesbians as people who are attracted to women, who like to eat, sleep and hang out in the company of other women, and who have no affection for men.Its list for men includes preferences for V-necks and sleeveless clothes.In a seminar in Penang on Wednesday, Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi said not many people understood or knew the early "symptoms" of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender inclinations to prevent its spread, liberal news portal Malaysian Insider reported.
So far, the group has organized ten seminars on this new form of parental gaydar with the latest one attracting 1,500 attendees in the majority Muslim country. According to Asian media outlets, other tell-tale signs of homosexuality for men include carrying "big handbags, similar to those carried by women," wearing tight, light-colored clothes and possessing a "chiseled" physique.
Gee, how scientific!
After outrage by gay and lesbian groups, the Malaysian Education Ministry said it didn't endorse the specific how-to-spot-a-gay guidelines (even though one of its ministers spoke at one of the seminars), but doubled down on the problem homosexuality poses in the country. "The ministry views cases of social ills in the community very seriously and will always give guidance directly and indirectly to all schoolchildren to ensure they stay away from unhealthy activities," said the ministry, according to Gay Star News. A blog post on Amnesty International's website criticizes the seminars, saying "It might sound like something from Victorian England, but this is modern day Malaysia."
In Malaysia, sodomy is illegal and has been described as against "the order of nature." It's also the same country that censored the lyrics of Lady Gaga's hit "Born This Way" for promoting acceptance of gays (the line "No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby" is scrambled into gibberish in the censored version.) As Amnesty notes, "There is educating to be done, but its purpose should be to placate the fears of adults in the country about the spread of 'dangerous homosexuality' and to urgently increase tolerance amongst the population."
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Anti-LGBT laws: Malaysia
Malaysian law currently provides for whipping and up to a 20-year prison sentence for homosexual acts involving either men or women.
According to the 2011 report on laws about homosexuality worldwide from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, Malaysian law on homosexual activity is codified in Section 377 of its Penal Code:
Penal Code (Consolidated version 1998) 187
Unnatural Offences
Section 377A. Carnal intercourse against the order of nature.
“Any person who has sexual connection with another person by the introduction of the penis into the anus or mouth of the other person is said to commit carnal intercourse against the order of nature. … Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual connection necessary to the offence described in this section.”
Section 377B. Punishment for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature.
“Whoever voluntarily commits carnal intercourse against the order of nature shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years, and shall also be liable to whipping.”
Section 377C. Committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature without consent, etc.
“Whoever voluntarily commits carnal intercourse against the order of nature on another person without the consent, or against the will, of the other person, or by putting other person in fear of death or hurt to the person or any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than five years and not more than twenty years, and shall also be liable to whipping.”
Section 377D. Outrages on decency.
“Any person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any person of, any act of gross indecency with another person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years.”
Sharia law
The report states further:
“Moreover, several states in Malaysia have instated Islamic Sharia laws, applying to male and female muslims, criminalising homosexual and lesbian acts with up to three years imprisonment and whipping.
“The Sharia Penal law in the Malaysian state of Syriah prescribes penalties for sodomy (Liwat) and lesbian relations (Musahaqat) with fines of RM5,000.00, three years imprisonment and 6 lashes of the whip. All these penalties can be combined.”
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