Malaysian Immigration Department to ban entry of LGBTQ+ in lead-up to canceled event

Participants hold a giant rainbow flag during the Taiwan Gay Pride Parade in Taipei October 30, 2010. Around 10,000 Taiwanese gathered with people from Malaysia, Korea and Japan on Saturday for the annual gay pride parade which is in its eighth year, according to organisers.    REUTERS/Nicky Loh
Participants hold a giant rainbow flag during the Taiwan Gay Pride Parade in Taipei October 30, 2010. Around 10,000 Taiwanese gathered with people from Malaysia, Korea and Japan on Saturday for the annual gay pride parade which is in its eighth year, according to organisers. REUTERS/Nicky Loh

Malaysia’s Immigration Department: they’re not just equipped to weed out dishonest travelers and terrorist threats.

In response to an LGBTQ+ party that was to be held later this month in KL, part of wider Pride celebrations in Asia, the Immigration Department is trying to ban the entry of homosexuals.

That’s right, where fingerprints fail us, we’re expected to believe that our border control comes equipped with a sixth sense. With what some call may call, ephemerally, gaydar.

You know, the je ne sais quoi possessed by a percentage of the population that’s able to see through the smoke, mirrors and Tom Ford perfume and pick out the LGBTQ+ who walk among us.

Considering a fair proportion of the population (including my mother) is still under the impression that Ricky Martin is quite the ladies’ man, we’re not certain this is going to be the world’s most effective screening system.

There’s also that tiny factor of it being totally antediluvian, bloody offensive, and unconstitutional to ban someone from entering Malaysia based on their sexual orientation.

Lawyers across the country have pointed out that while the law gives the Immigration Department discretionary power to issue no-land orders to travelers, to do so based on sexual orientation is unconstitutional.

Oh, snap.

Criminal lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad explained to the Malay Mail that homosexuality in itself is not expressly illegal in Malaysia, nor are there any laws that prohibit the congregation of homosexuals. So just what the Immigration Department thinks that it’s exactly banning, is legally tenuous (aka weak sauce).

Unmoved by constitutional rhetoric was Immigration Director Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, who told reporters that he does not “understand those who question Immigration about prohibiting individuals involved in the event from coming to Malaysia as it (the gay event) is against our country’s culture and this is not just about Islam, but (the event) is too abnormal to us (in Malaysia).”

In a country torn apart by growing poverty, rampant cases of incest, and deadly bullying – a bunch of people dancing to (I hope!) some of the better Madonna remixes is what we have to focus our resources on.

Oh, and then there’s that other detail of focusing immigration officers’ attentions on figuring out if someone is gay, rather than figuring out if someone is a threat to our national security. Priorities!

Don’t worry though, Mustafar may not have explained to a curious public how they plan to screen party-goers, but told reporters that they will be collaborating with other agencies to “identify” those planning of attending the event.

Maybe now is the time to page that PAS member keen on infiltrating the LGBTQ+ community via ‘snowballing’? I’m sure he can add some pro tips to all of this.

In the meantime, it’s not wrong, or even illegal, to be gay – YOU DO YOU. WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. ONE LOVE. ONE LAUNDRY. ONE MALAYSIA.

 



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