KUALA LUMPUR – The religious affairs minister has said that any new legislation aimed at regulating the promotion of LGBTQ+ elements should be uniformly applied to all members of the public, irrespective of their religious beliefs.
Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar stressed that measures restricting gatherings, entertainment events, and non-governmental organisations that advocate LGBTQ+ culture are intended to maintain and “uphold public order”.
“As such, any law enacted in relation to this matter should apply to everyone, and not just Muslims. This is to allow enforcement action against any person involved (in such activities),” the minister said in a parliamentary written reply .
Na’im was responding to a question from PAS lawmaker Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (Pengkalan Chepa-PN) on whether the government would create laws to ban gatherings, closed or open programmes, entertainment events and NGOs that promote LGBTQ+ values.
The minister also said that there is no need to work on a new law to halt the said activities as provisions under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 already allow enforcement authorities to act against such matters.
“The PAA is an act enacted on the right to assemble peacefully without weapons and allocate restrictions found to be necessary or suitable relating to that right in the interest of national security or public order, including protecting the rights and freedom of others,” Na’im said.
“The restrictions and conditions that can be imposed (by authorities) under Section 15(2)(f) of the PAA relate to environmental factors, cultural or religious sensitivities, and the historical significance of the assembly place.
“With the existence of the PAA, it is found that there is no necessity to create a new law to prevent any events or NGOs that promote LGBTQ+ (elements),” he added.
Meanwhile, in a separate query from PAS vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad (Bagan Serai-PN), the Communications and Digital Ministry was questioned on actions to combat the existence of “songsang” (perverse) online apps that “make it easier for the LGBTQ+ community to do their activities”.
In response, the ministry said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had received 35 public complaints about such apps between 2021 to September this year, leading to the blocking of 85 domain names and websites. – October 12, 2023