Protesters gather outside a mosque in Shah Alam near Kuala Lumpur on 4 November 2011 to urge the Malaysian government to give recognition to the LGBT+ community. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Malaysia’s government has been urged to renounce a cabinet minister’s proposal to increase criminal penalties against LGBT+ people.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the attempt to strengthen criminal penalties against LGBT+ Malaysians is the latest in a series of moves to cement an anti-LGBT+ and anti-human rights stance under the prime minister’s government.
Deputy minister for religious affairs Ahmad Marzuk Shaary has proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355) which would allow state courts to enact harsher sentences for same-sex conduct than the current maximum sentence permitted under federal law.