Last month’s deadly earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Indonesia, claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced nearly 90,000 people. In some cities, bodies are still being discovered. Today, Malaysian opposition leader Zahid Hamidi explained why: God’s anger with Indonesia’s LGBTQ+ community.
Speaking to fellow parliamentarians during Question Time, the disgraced UMNO leader, currently facing 45 corruption-related criminal charges, said the quake that struck the neighboring archipelago nation was divine punishment that Malaysians also face if they don’t forsake their sinful ways.
“If we look at the situation in Malaysia, we are concerned over the incident of the earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Indonesia, recently, where it is believed more than 1,000 of them were involved in [LGBTQ+] activities,” he said.
“But the whole area was destroyed as part of God’s punishment.
“I would like to ask, as part of Malaysian Islamic Development Department’s (Jakim) task, (for them) to implement the Mukhayyam outreach program to help the LGBT community, and other steps taken by government agencies and other states, and to state the effectiveness of such program so we can avoid similar punishment from God, including those who clearly reject the LGBT.”
Yep, just when you thought that roping in your 9-year-old daughter to spit hate on your behalf was the newly lowered bar, the leader of Malaysia’s opposition has somehow managed to go even lower, using a tragedy of almost unfathomable proportions for political gain.
Somewhere, the ghost of Jerry Falwell is smiling.
Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, responded that while the LGBTQ+ community may be a social problem (sigh), the government doesn’t believe it’s quite reached “wrath of God” levels yet.
“In the issue of LGBT, although it is a problem here, it is still under control. I don’t think that it is as simple as that – that if we do something, we will earn God’s wrath,” he said.
“What we need to do right now is to find ways to address the problem.”
So what exactly does “addressing the problem” entail? Something pretty troubling actually.
Since 2011, the Islamic affairs agency Jakim has run a program called mukhayyam, an initiative that reaches out to the LGBTQ+ community via religious leaders, offering voluntary “treatment and recovery programs” to curb what they see as an “infectious issue.”
And so we find ourselves, dear reader, at an impasse: Forced to pick between an individual who seems to not possess a basic understanding of geological science and is willing to use thousands of deaths to score political points and another guy who believes you can reverse sexual identity, we’re gonna opt out of this false dilemma and wait for option C.
Meanwhile, Zahid maybe next Question Time you could address the litany of corruption charges you’re facing. We’re all just a little more curious about that.
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