Ever spiteful Dr M shows his increasing ignorance: LGBTs can WIPE OUT out human race!

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has insisted that supporting the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgenger (LGBT) community could wipe out the human race.

The 86-year-old PM is known for his controversial views although he is no longer much respected even within his own ruling Umno party. In the late 1990s, he tried to use Malaysian society's phobia against homosexuality to falsely accuse and jail his deputy Anwar Ibrahim on trumped-up sodomy charges.

In Malaysian, sodomy or 'unnatural' sex punishable with jail of up to 20 years, fine as well as caning.

Anwar was acquitted and freed in 2004. In 2008, current premier Najib Razak tried the same tactics to pin down Anwar's meteoric political resurgence.

Najib was condemned internationally for manifestly fabricated charges against his political rival and earlier this year, Anwar was again acquitted by the Malaysian courts.

Spiteful Dr M

But the politically ruthless Mahathir is unfazed. In comments that showed his spite against community, he said that LGBTs were "not natural" for biological reasons and wanted to "see how many children they have".

"Men marrying men, women marrying women... It's not natural. Just imagine if we all indulge in that. No children. One generation and the whole human race is wiped out," he was reported as telling a forum on "Politics and Business: The Malaysian Connection".

"Now we have institutions for men and men, women and women. I want to see how many children they have."

With such vehement distaste for the LGBT, it will be interesting to see if how the Malaysian authorities handle an August wedding dinner planned by gay pastor Ouyang Wen Feng and his African-American partner Phineas Newborn III.

Ouyang, a Malaysian Chinese and a gay rights activist, and Phineas have already married in the US but plan to throw a grand reception for their friends in Malaysia. Speculation is rife the couple will be barred from entering the country or that Ouyang might even be stripped of his Malaysian citizenship.

The chase for conservative vote

However, the greater the brouhaha kicked up by Najib's Umno party, the more the country is likely to be relegated to 'backward' status in the eyes of the international community.

But the sudden flare of interest in LGBT rights is more likely to do with capturing the conservative Muslim vote in the next general election which must be held by mid 2013 at the latest.

Pushed to a corner by its own corruption and sex scandals, Umno is forced to fight for every inch of the Malay electorate with the Muslim-based PAS, as well as with PKR, which are both in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition led by Anwar, who is now the Opposition Leader.

Rush to bash LGBT

Indeed, the government-controlled mainstream media has made a big fuss over Najib's 'disappointment' with US President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriages.

Najib had told the United States government last month that he was “disappointed” in President Barack Obama’s support for same-sex marriages, Putrajaya has revealed.

The Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry said Najib conveyed the message to US deputy secretary of state James B. Steinberg during his visit to Washington D.C. in mid-May.

“The prime minister also asserted to the US government that religious laws are principles that should be respected and followed, regarding social issues deemed sensitive by faith followers, who form the majority in the US as well as Malaysia,” said the ministry.

It was responding to a question from Muhammad Husain, the PAS MP for Pasir Puteh, who had asked if the government planned to officially record its protest to Obama’s recent statement.

Malaysia Chronicle