Two women arrested in Malaysia face jail, lashing under anti-gay laws

Two women arrested in Malaysia face jail, lashing under anti-gay laws

TWO women have been been arrested by religious police in Malaysia under the country’s criminal code outlawing homosexuality.

Police became suspicious when they found a dildo in the room of the two students, aged 20 and 21, who were staying in a hotel room in the southern Malaysian city of Johor Bahru, reports Buzzfeed.

Trans* rights organisation Justice for Sisters has expressed concern over the arrests, and have reportedly tried to reach the two women to offer legal assistance.

The penalty if the women are found guilty of breaching Malaysia’s laws against homosexuality is up to three years in jail, a fine, and six lashes.

The two women were arrested as part of a larger raid that saw seven other reportedly heterosexual couples charged for violating religious laws against adultery and “close proximity”.

While the criminal code’s ban on homosexuality is a legacy of Malaysia’s colonial past, Sharia law has also been used to prosecute trans* people for “impersonating” women.

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6 responses to “Two women arrested in Malaysia face jail, lashing under anti-gay laws”

  1. In Australia we consider you neighbours.
    What right has you State sanctioned religion have to do what people do in the privacy of their bedroom.
    We live in the 21st Century.Get with get over it,
    Allah and God made and loves Gay people.

  2. These girls face such brutality because Tony Abbott supports a culture of violence and terror. Tony Abbott just gave another 50 million to search for the missing plane, no strings attached. Australian taxes are not meant to fund terrorism, yet Malaysia gets millions in foreign aid that subsides the Umno Rulling party building mosques. The front bench of the LNP seem really confused about what homegrown terrorism actually is. The UMNO ruling party has lost a tactical submarine, so it is hardly inspiring to see it cannot perform basic government functions, yet find the time to inflict terror on GLBTI people.

    • I would add that building a Mosque is not terrorism, and the Malaysian people are wonderful. The point I am making is supporting terrorism against GLBTI people, with our taxes, is not on.

  3. The reason why there are 76 laws across the globe on banning gay sex still in 2014, is only because of English Colonial Imperialism!

    Also Malaysia is a very corrupt country and also use old colonial laws to scare political enemies and also threaten democracy – such as the former prime minister of Malaysia!

    In 2002 when I was 16, I went to both Malaysia and Singapore and at the time I loved the visit as a tourist and was unaware of the English colonial laws at the time! Sadly today Malaysia is a horrible country plunging into extreme Islamic dominance into a theocracy!

  4. Malaysian people are incredibly kind and gracious I am sad that such laws are still enforced because when I was there 10 years ago I got the impression that the society was very tolerant. Maybe they should make a push to decriminalize it as it is really a human rights and equality issue.
    I wish the two girls the only correct outcome, which is to be set free.

  5. I’m so sad to know that the Malaysian government concerns more of what their citizens do in their own private room than protecting their citizens from being treated inhumanly. I’m not going to visit Malaysia or fly with Malaysian airline until their government stop imposing their religious belief to their citizens. There is a better use of the police force to stop corruption which cause severe impact to its citizens.

    I’m a Muslim and it is between me and Allah when I die who will judge me. Not some other humans who are imperfect themselves.