When Malaysia speaks, the world at large listens. There seems to be an admiration of sorts for this former third world country, now travelling full speed towards becoming a developed nation.

That we have achieved considerable 'physical' success has put the country in good stead. Alas, the same cannot be said of our country's sincerity in making Malaysia a home for one and all.

A case in point is the recent statement by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil who voiced her assurance that the welfare of the mak nyahs or transsexuals in the country would be looked into.

But soon after she justified that there were variables that had to be studied before any step was taken.

Then came the issue of transsexuals who in spite of having undergone sex reassignment surgery (SRS) were denied the right to state their gender on their identity card. A 33 year-old woman who had undergone such surgery failed in her bid to be declared as a man, as it was thrown out by the Ipoh High Court.

The man filed the application to be declared a man last year after failed attempts to alter 'her' birth certificate and identity card at the National Registration Department.

Commenting on this case, Professor Hamdan Adnan, a commissioner with the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had said that the state should not intervene, if one wanted to go through the SRS.

Fatwa against homosexuality

Only non-Muslims are allowed to go through the surgery as Muslims are prohibited from doing so since 1983, after the Council of Rulers endorsed a fatwa (religious decree) against such an operation, with an exception made for hermaphrodites.

According to the government, a majority of the 10,000 transsexuals in the country are Malay Muslims. Suhakam, in a show of support, said it would study the law to determine what recommendations it could make to help transsexuals, while at the same time conform with the Islamic belief.

The lack of understanding on the issue of sexuality perhaps explains why we still have statements in the newspapers made by religious officials who are of the belief that transsexuals and homosexuals need to be "rehabilitated" or "rescued" and brought back to the "right path".

The need to impose a particular lifestyle on individuals has been a constant affair with Malaysia's keepers of morality. There seems to be a pricking need on their behalf to determine how one leads their life.

Freedom to choose one's lifestyle comes at a price, as some have found out. To acknowledge that Malaysia is home to transsexuals and homosexuals is a great difficulty for the government.

While Suhakam says it is willing to assist the marginalised community in the country, one cannot help but wonder just how this will be done, for after all the commission is just another propaganda stunt by the government to garner credibility in the international arena.

Ignorance

As with the issue of sex education, which the government is reluctant to bring to schools, issues pertaining to sexuality too have not been given any platform.

Sadly, ignorance is certainly not bliss in this matter and we can only hope that the uninformed Malaysians who have made the equation that homosexuality is about HIV/Aids and vice-versa should for the sake of reality become informed of what truth really is.

As serious as the issue of abandoned babies and unwanted pregnancies is in the country, so is the issue of sexuality. Schools may try as hard as possible to hush up the fact that they have gay and lesbian students in their midst but this approach of sweeping issues under the carpet is only going to worsen matters.

These children, not able discuss their sexual orientation with their educators, often turn to sources that might or might not be able to assist them. If Malaysia is indeed a home for one and all, as its formation represented, then why the discrimination of people of Malaysia with diverse "backgrounds"?

Why the burning desire to dispel homosexuals from Malaysian soil? Why the refusal to accept the fact that people have different sexual orientation? Why the urge to define boundaries, to force only one way of life on Malaysians?

The "why's" can go on but there is no assurance that they will be supported with any answers. The country's discriminatory attitude towards gays and lesbians and the punishable stand taken by the law on homosexuality only goes to reflect the zero tolerance of sexual diversity.

Unlike abroad, where gays and lesbian can hold public office and are not pelted with derogatory remarks, what are the chances of that happening in our country?

How will we react to a politician if we were to learn that he or she is homosexual? The fact that we still judge people by their sexual orientation before accepting them reveals to a large extent our own insecurities and denial about the fact that the true worth of a person is not based on who they choose as a partner.

What has one's sexual preference got to do with his or her ability to perform at work? Why must sexuality be made an issue before someone is deemed qualified to carry out a task?

Recently, deposed former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was quoted by a foreign news agency as saying that homosexuality laws in Malaysia need to be amended.

While that statement was long overdue, it sadly came with a "caveat emptor", that while homosexuality is a private affair, gays marriages are still not applicable in Malaysia.

Anwar himself who was once accused of being a homosexual by the then government under Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has to a degree seen the need to recognise matters as they are and to deal with them accordingly.

Still, Anwar's call for laws on homosexuality to be amended might have no impact on the staunch Muslim nation of ours, which believes sin to be the ultimate destruction of mankind.

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.