In supporting the call by Anwar Ibrahim, who had earlier urged Malaysia to do away with such laws, the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) said laws that criminalise consensual oral and anal sex are “remnants of our British colonial past”.
It is time for Malaysia to abolish such archaic laws in keeping with the times, JAG said.
Malaysia, it added, should emulate India, which recently abolished the colonial-era anti-sodomy laws.
“Sexual acts between consenting adults should not be criminalised as this violates freedom of expression and the right to privacy.
“Moreover, such laws perpetuate discrimination against LGBT persons,” JAG said in a statement.
Earlier today, Anwar — who is poised to become the country’s eighth prime minister — spoke out against laws penalising gay sex, saying they are completely unjust.
He said the laws must be amended to ensure fairness, adding that one’s sexual orientation should not be questioned if it’s not displayed in public.
This morning, Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejected the National Human Rights Commission’s (Suhakam) defence of the LGBT community, saying their lifestyle is not part of Malaysia’s value system.
Suhakam had recently criticised the caning of two women in Terengganu, who were convicted by a shariah court with attempting to engage in lesbian sex.
The government-appointed rights watch had also urged for a repeal of laws that punish people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Mahathir said there were certain things that Malaysians could not accept although they could be considered as part of basic human rights in some Western countries.
JAG went on to call for marital rape to be made a crime, saying the current rape laws in the country exclude rape that happens within a marriage.
It said Singapore is looking to criminalise marital rape as part of a comprehensive review of its Penal Code.
“The exclusion of marital rape is based on the colonial-era idea that married women are their husband’s property and thus do not have the right to decline sex.
“Such laws disregard the fact that sex without consent is rape, regardless of whether the parties are married or not.”