What is the big deal about Anwar’s stand on homosexuality? Sure, he speaks out against racism, detention without trial and corruption, but is he inconsistent for insisting that homosexuality remain criminalised? Does it matter that Anwar’s stand on homosexuality is no different from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s?
homophobia
Malaysia’s gay threat
By Shanon Shah
ON 15 Dec 2010, 32 year-old Azwan Ismail, a Malay-Muslim Malaysian, posted a video on YouTube in which he declared, “I am gay and I’m OK.” One week later, he told the media that he feared for his life. And who could blame him? He now has the de facto minister of religion, the Perak […]
PKR’s campaign homophobia
By Shanon ShahThe audience at the Jalan Berapit ceramah “THE Barisan Nasional (BN) should change its name to Barisan Pondan (faggot)!” bellows Penang Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim to the 5,000-strong crowd in Jalan Berapit on 23 May 2009. The audience applauds the Bayan Baru MP, and emboldened, he goes on to […]
Sexual wrongs and rights
By Alina RastamOF the plethora of absurd and disturbing events that have marred the political landscape this year, one of the most significant must surely be the charge of sodomy levelled against politician Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — again. In a surreal replay of the events of 1998, when then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad accused him […]
