Topic: 3

A STUDY ON LGBT COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIA; PERCEPTIONS AND

CHALLENGES.

Semester 4C

Members

1) Mohamad Aizat B Mohamad Yusof 4144005451

2) Kamani A/P Chandrasehgaran 4144007271

3) Afiqah Bt Amirul 4144008411

4) Menaga A/P Arasu 4131006931

5) Bhashenituri A/P Asogan 4144001551

Presenters

1) Mohamad Aizat B Mohamad Yusof 4144005451

2) Menaga A/P Arasu 4131006931

A STUDY ON LGBT COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIA: PERCEPTIONS AND
CHALLENGES

─Abstract ─

This study determines the perceptions and challenges faced by LGBT community in
Malaysia by considering two research questions, that what are the factors that motivates
LGBT community in Kuala Lumpur and how did they changed/settle down as who they are
now. This study uses the analytical framework invented by Vivian Cass in 1976. The model
she created is called Cass Model which the purpose is to understand the identity development
of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. LGBT community continues to
experience various forms of oppression and discrimination in Malaysia and throughout the
world. This study takes advantage of a unique opportunity to examine the factors that lead
LGBT community in Kuala Lumpur and how LGBT community settled down. A qualitative
method had been conducted to measure our research of LGBT community. Findings
supported that psychological influence, environment, and media are the main contributing
factors in forming LGBT community in Kuala Lumpur.

Keywords: LGBT: factors, changed/settle down, oppressions, discrimination.

1. INTRODUCTION

Generally speaking, the issue of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) has been
described as a major issue which has cut across the public of the universe including Malaysia,
while some have described it as the generated issue from the concept of human rights, right to
practice and live one’s sexual orientation even if it is seen as unconventional by the larger
society and the religion of the society.

Although Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation, nonetheless, Islam is

officially recognized as the religion of the state. Islam, being a religion which out-rightly
forbids same sex relationship or any unnatural relationship among human beings has in its
penal code, punishment by death for anybody who engages in this activity. As stated from the
hadith :

"Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Loot, execute the one who
does it and the one to whom it is done.". (Abu Dawud- 4462)
This being the case, it is expected that naturally, since the Islamic law applies
in the nation, the issue of LGBT is not allowed. In fact, the Shariah court has
the mandate to act against any individual or group who engage in any unnatural
sexual relationship (The Constitution of Malaysia,1994).

The establishment of People‘s Voluntary Anti-Homosexual Movement (PASRAH) an

organization that has vowed to eradicate homosexuality, which is a part of LGBT by
imposing severe penalties and closing down gay gathering places, has caused quite a stir.
 LGBT was suddenly branded as a threat to the society, forcing the society to openly
discuss the issue of LGBT.This kind of sentiment reflects that there is an increasing amount
of intolerance or resistance towards people whose sexuality reference is different from the
rest of the society.

The stigma towards LGBT community is still not positive. And this community is still
trying their best to prove the negative aspects about them are wrong, but they are still human
beings, thus a respect is a must. They should be treated for whom they are and not insulting
them.

2. PROBLEM OF STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In today’s modern society, the LGBT community is still partially accepted by people
all over the world. Even though many are aware that the people from this community come
from different walks of life, even the white collars, they are still considered as a threat to the
society. This is because people are too busy looking for their flaws rather than looking at the
good side of them.

Generally, the people of this community are perfectly normal, just like any other
human being, but what differs them is their sexual preferences. They are attracted to their
own kind or, to be precise, the LGBTs are attracted to a person of same gender.
Gays, lesbians and bisexuals appear to be the same as the non-homosexuals as they do not
mend their physical appearance, thus, they are safe from being criticized by today’s
judgmental society. However, the transgender are more likely to be criticized as they are
opposing their own god-gifted identity.

Years before today, the LGBTs were assumed to be no good to the society as most of
them were found roaming around the dark alleys as sex slaves. This assumption, however, is
no longer valid today as the people from this community had found the courage to step up
and live their lives as normal human being. On top of that, some of these people today are
well educated and managed to settle down with a decent job.

In Kuala Lumpur, this community is seen to be accepted by the society as they live
their life normally, just like the non-homosexuals. Despite the freedom to embrace their
selves in the big city, this community is still greatly oppressed until today.

This study attempts to address two issues; (i). What are the factors that lead LGBT
community in Kuala Lumpur, which will analyze on the main reason they involved in this
community, and (ii). How did they changed/settle down as who they are now and why? It
will synthesize the factors that guide them to the real path.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study is based on the structural-functional perspective as the theoretical framework that
extracts from the Cass Model which was developed by Vivian Cass in 1979. This model is used
to understand the identity development of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This theory
explains each stage about the identity development. The stages help explain the people
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
 There are six stages which will briefly explain the identity development of
transgender and bisexual people. The first stage is identity confusion. This stage begins with
the person's first awareness of gay or lesbian thoughts, feelings, and attractions. The person
typically feels confused and experiences confusion. They will start to ask themselves about
their gender and often confuse about it.

Second stage is Identity Comparison. At this stage the person accepts the possibility
of being gay or lesbian and examines the extensive implications of that uncertain
commitment. At this point they accept themselves for who they are. In their point of view,
they assume it is only for some time. They think that the inner feeling are just temporary.

The third stage is Identity Tolerance. At this stage, these people will not isolate their
identities. They acknowledge about the existence of gay, lesbian and transgender. They seem
to care less about what the world’s opinion about them. For them, being a gay, lesbian or
transgender is not a big issue and nothing wrong with that.

Fourth stage is Identity Acceptance. I will be okay. This is what they have in their
mind. At this point these people will be very positive towards their life and believe they are
normal like others. They start to fight for rights and manage their own community. Here, we
can see these people have achieved in their life and prove they too can survive.

The fifth stage is identity pride. At this stage, these people established their identity
well. They have no reason why they have to be shame and hide their true identity. They tend
to develop skills for coping with reactions and responses to disclosure to sexual identity.
They have the guts and strengths to fight the world.

The last stage is Identity Synthesis. The person integrates his or her sexual identity
with all other aspects of self, and sexual orientation becomes only one aspect of self rather
than the entire identity. Feels all right to move out into the community and not simply define
space according to sexual orientation.

4. PREVIOUS STUDIES ON LGBT COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIA

Several studies have been done by other scholars on LGBT community in Malaysia.

N.Alagappar (2009) has done a research on the representation of homosexuality based

from content analysis from the local newspapers. It has been stated that homosexuality was
suddenly branded as a threat‖ to the society, forcing the society to openly discuss the issue of
homosexuality. This kind of sentiment reflects that there is an increasing amount of
intolerance or resistance towards people whose sexuality preference is different from the rest
of the society. In this article, it also examines how the Malaysian print media such as News
Straits Times represents the issues of homosexuality and the stance of homosexuals in
Malaysia. These representations, should tell us something about the representation of
homosexuals as well as how the media construct the social reality of
homosexuals/homophobes

Owoyemi and Ahmad Sabri (2014) had a research on at the issue of LGBT through a
practitioner of one of these sexual orientations by delving into the debate about whether this
sexual orientation is innate to those who practice it or an ideology adopted by certain people.
The main idea was to show whether this sexual orientation is a natural phenomenon or an
ideology propagated by certain quarters as is the practice in the contemporary time. Ahmad
Sabri, Owoyemi, Fatinah Mangsor (2014) had discussed on causes and treatment by an
experienced LGBT counselor. It showed how the participant deals with the causes and cure
or transformation from this sexual orientation to normal sexual orientation. This research
looks at the experience of an expert who has been in the field for about three decades and has
witnessed it all. It is also point out how those with the orientation could be treated and
transformed to the normal sexual orientation. It is also had showed that the LGBT is a natural
issue but can be controlled, while its antecedents or causes could be traced to the lack of
enlightenment, lack of comfortability, compatibility and sexual abuse among the young ones.

Daniel and Butkus (2015) had discussed on the sexual orientation, to which the first
three letters of the LGBT acronym refer, can be thought of as consisting of three components:
behaviour, identity, and desire. These components are not necessarily congruent in any given
individual. For instance, some individuals engage in same-sex sexual behaviour but do not
identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; others experience same-sex attraction but are not
sexually active with members of the same sex

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study used the qualitative approach. A purposive sampling method was used
in selecting informants based on the purpose of study and research objective which is
more to attitudes, thoughts and behavior of the LGBT community. This study was carried
out by interviewing 10 people from the LGBT and non-LGBT community and they were
randomly selected. Informants were selected from various areas of work background for
gaining a variety of information.

The fieldwork was conducted in the Peninsular Malaysia, especially in Kuala

Lumpur. To facilitate the interview with the LGBT community, the researcher used
informal language as medium of interview as the informants could describe their views
and discussions in clarify and simple way.
Figure 1 shows the location of fieldwork which is located at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/

6. FINDINGS

The main goal of this research is to look into the challenges faced by the LGBT
community in Malaysia, specifically in Kuala Lumpur, and also to look into the perceptions
of the society toward them. Based on the interview conducted on seven respondents with
different sexual orientations, three main factors that have the most possibility in causing this
issue had been identified. Diagram below show the factors mentioned;

Factors that caused the

issue

7.
1. Psychological
8. 2. Environment 3. Media
influence

Psychological influence.

Many disbelieve that humans are born with different sexual orientation, namely heterosexual,
homosexual and bisexual. According to WebMD, sexual orientation is a term used to refer to
a person’s emotional, romantic and sexual attraction to individuals of a particular gender
(male or female). People may have attractions to people of the same or opposite sex, but may
elect not to act on these feelings. For example, a bisexual may choose to have a monogamous
(one partner) relationship with one gender and, therefore, elect not to act on the attraction to
the other gender.

Apart from all these facts, homosexuality and bisexuality are not caused by the way
child was reared by his or her parents. Also, being homosexual and bisexual does not mean
the person is mentally ill or abnormal in some way, but it is more likely to be social problems
result from prejudicial attitudes or misinformation.

On the other hand, the transgenders are believed by some, to have gender dysphoria
(gender disorder). This disorder is considered as hereditary by the transgender individuals,
thus, influences them to oppose their true identity, or gender. However, according to
WebMD too, the mismatch between body and internal sense of gender is not a mental illness.
Instead, what need to be addressed are the stress, anxiety and depression that go along with it.
Therefore, these facts may have out ruled the LGBTs’ ideas of having some sort of disorder
in them. Instead, their decision to become gay is most possibly influenced by their own
thoughts.

From the interviews conducted, two out of seven respondents agree that the LGBT
phenomenon is caused by psychological influence. According to the first respondent, he
strongly believes that homosexuality or the tendency to oppose one’s identity is due to
individual’s choice;

“Quite odd to say LGBT is hereditary. But there are also studies that
associate these things with the human hormonal factors. Perhaps (for
isolated cases), some of whom were born with a hormonal imbalance,
whether in male hormones, or vice versa. Many of them are likely to be
LGBT is because of their own feelings” (Respondent A).

As for the second respondent, she did not deny the fact that homosexuality is
hereditary; however, the mind plays a stronger role when it comes to decision making;

“I believe LGBT has something to do with mental illnesses; just like

what people in 20th centuries believed. It’s about a matter of
psychological thinking, moral values and environment that will
determine whether they are LGBT or not. Without these three that been
mentioned, I believe nothing will happen” (Respondent B).

Environment.

Sexual orientation is theorized as possibly being a combination of genetic, hormonal,

and environmental influences, or simply a complex combination of nature and nurture. The
American Psychological Association and Royal College of Psychiatrists acknowledge
scientific theories that sexual orientation is caused by a combination of biological and
postnatal environmental factors, but the American Psychological Association adds that
despite much research into the genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural
influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude
that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Scientific consensus
is that sexual orientation, unlike sexual orientation identity, is not a choice, as there has been
no strong evidence to validate it as a lifestyle choice.
 Supported by one out of seven respondents, he claimed that environmental factors
such as peer pressure and self-desire are both contributing;

“My perception towards homosexual especially for Malaysia, The

LGBT community in Malaysia is growing due to environmental
influences. The influence of environmental factors can be divided into
peer pressure and the desire of itself. These two factors are stimulated
by the influence of the Internet. Whether Malaysia will receive LGBT
or not, depending on the level of acceptance by the majority
community. As the majority of the community in this country is Malay
(Islam), so the acceptance of new cultures contrast from their custom
and religion is difficult” (Respondent C).

Media

Social media have been a tool not just to communicate but also to disperse a certain
influential content. Until today, social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr
and Instagram have been the strongest platforms in connecting people globally. These
platforms are also used by LGBT community to create their own online community as well as
to connect with one another. There are several well- known online pages created by the
LGBT community on Facebook such as LGBT Malaysia, Gay Professionals, Transgender
World, LGBT Advocate and many more.

“Technology is now developing at a very fast pace. Everything on the

web is now accessible regardless of the content. Teenagers today are
mostly computer savvy and these facts are very much contributing to
the growing numbers of LGBT individuals” (Respondent D).

The second respondent reacted to this issue in a positive way. She considers the social
media as a good tool for the LGBT community to interact with one another;

“Social media might appear as negative to most people these days. But I
see it as a good way for these people (LGBT) to communicate and at the
same time, reducing the possibilities that leads to casual sex” (Respondent
E).

9. CONCLUSION

This research of LGBT community in Malaysia recognizes that these people are still
facing many challenges be it virtually or in real world. As Malaysians, we have to be in their
shoes to respect and experience their feelings as well. Research into LBGT community has
been expanded to factors that lead LGBT community in Kuala Lumpur which is
psychological influences, media and environment as well. In conclusion, people of all walks
of life need to surpass the negative images that they have in mind when LGBT comes into
picture. They need to be less judgmental and be more rational instead as those people deserve
to be treated equally. Throwing profanities and hate remarks on them does not bring any good
to the society; instead, we need to be more positive and collected in countering this issue.
Looking at the contributing factors; psychological influence, environment, and media, the
LGBT individuals is not the only party to be blame since every people around them is also
responsible in developing their identity crisis.

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Jamal, A. (2001). “The Story of Lut and the Quran’s Perception of the Morality of
Same-sex Sexuality” in the Journal of Homosexuality, 41 (1). Taylor and Francis,
Routledge.

2. Alaggappar P.Ponmalar (2006) ‘The Representation of Homosexuality – A Content

Analysis in a Malaysian Newspaper”.

3. Ahmad Sabri, Owoyemi, Fatinah Mangsor (2014) “Leading By Example : Causes

And Treatment by An Experienced Counselor.”

4. Owoyemi, Ahmad Sabri (2014) “LGBT: Nature Or Ideology? Sharing The

Experienced Of Former Practitioner In Malaysia.”

5. Malik, F. Queer “Sexuality and Identity in the Qur’an and Hadith.”

http://www.well.com/user/aquarius/Qurannotes.htm

6. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/gender-dysphoria