The hypocritical act of removing LGBT portraits

Mujahid Yusof Rawa, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department recently ordered the removal of a couple of portraits from a George Town Festival exhibition. The portraits removed were of Nisha Ayub and Pang Khee Teik, who are well-known LGBT activists.

While the portraits displayed at the public gallery were part of the “Stripes and Strokes” exhibition held in conjunction with the upcoming Merdeka celebration, Mujahid justified the removal of the portraits by claiming that it was promoting a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lifestyle and as such, was in line with Putrajaya’s policy of not supporting the LGBT culture in Malaysia.

Honestly, I do not understand how portraits of two decently dressed people holding the Jalur Gemilang can be seen as promoting anything but pride of being a Malaysian. I suppose Mujahid must have a special power enabling him to read something no ordinary person can.

According to Fuziah Salleh, deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, the removal of the portraits of the LGBT activists should not be seen as an act of discrimination because icons such as Nisha and Pang are unsuitable as role models in the first place.

Apparently, according to her, the government is responsible for protecting the sensitivity of the majority who do not condone the LGBT lifestyle. She seems thus to be delivering a subtle message to the people that the sensitivity of the minorities, including the LGBT community, matters not.

To tell you the truth, I am getting rather sick and tired of this recurring hatred towards the LGBT community in our country. Although the reason given for marginalising the LGBT community in Malaysia is often the fear of recognising their rights in a so-called Islamic country, the truth is, oppressing another human being is not Islamic at all.

As a matter of fact, I believe, as Muslims, it should be our moral obligation to speak out and stand up to resist oppression towards those who are vulnerable, as in the case of the members of the LGBT community, and not merely vouch to protect the interest and sensitivity of the majority as championed by Mujahid, Fuziah and many of our Muslim leaders in Malaysia.

Sadly, like them, many Muslims in Malaysia and all over the world are very fond of cherry-picking – championing one thing in the course of upholding Islamic values while at the same time, destroying another.

I know it is a total waste of time for me to preach or to appeal to our leaders to defend the rights of the LGBT minorities in our society, as they will only continuously remind Muslims that to be LGBT is an Islamic crime and that keeping silent on LGBT matters is akin to supporting the lifestyle.

And every time LGBT discussions are pursued, they will keep chanting the story of Prophet Luth over and over again, reminding us of how Allah destroyed the land and its people for practising homosexuality.

I don’t know about you, but the story of Prophet Luth never made any sense to me. I mean if the story is supposed to warn us against homosexuality, why then didn’t Allah destroy cities and places practising incest, rape and worship of deities? After all, those are also great sins in Islam, are they not?

Or perhaps two consenting adults engaged in a sexual act is considered a greater sin compared to incest and rape?

If the answer is yes, I believe you need to have your faith checked.

But then again, in a country like Malaysia where people prosecuted for sodomy end up receiving a royal pardon while portraits of LGBT activists taking pride in being a Malaysian are removed from public gallery - I think everyone needs their faith checked.

For what it’s worth, I believe our sexuality is a gift from Allah. I believe each and every one of us is unique in our own way. I believe everyone is in search of themselves in their own way, trying to understand who they are and their purpose in life. And it is almost absurd to suggest that one should learn about themselves (and their sexuality) from scriptures written donkey years ago.

I mean, we do so many things that are not in accordance with the scriptures every single day – we lie, we steal, we break promises – yet I do not see anyone making a big deal out of it.

Sadly, despite having flaws of our own, we continue to carry a moral compass with us. What hypocrites we turn out to be.

Frankly, I do not see our government nor our religious authorities accepting LGBT people as part of the Malaysian society - at least not in my lifetime.

But I believe that the right to live as ourselves is so fundamental that it should not be subject to approval from the government.

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot. -Mkini