I had a friend who died of Aids. He was homosexual. And yes, there are many others on this planet who are homosexuals or bisexuals.

In spite of the long standing fact that homosexuality is only another orientation, it is truly shameful to note that many, Malaysians included, have no qualms condemning homosexuals for this.

Ignorance in this case is certainly no bliss and this was precisely what the country's highest selling English daily The Star did when it decided to "educate" the public on what makes a homosexual and the hows and whys to overcome it.

The newspaper carried a four-page story of a former gay man Edmund Smith now 'rehabilitated' and who was preaching the joy and bliss of being a heterosexual. No where throughout the articles was there any psycological or psychiatrist view included to explain what homosexuality really is.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association's board of trustees deleted the term 'homosexuality' from terminology in its 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Second Edition'.

Experts found that homosexuality does not cause emotional distress or and that it could not be regularly associated with clinically significant impairment of social functioning - two pre-requisites for a mental condition to be considered of psychiatric disorder.

The board recognised that a significant proportion of gay and lesbian people were clearly satisfied with their sexual orientation and showed no signs of needing psychotherapy. It was also found that homosexuals were able to function effectively in society and those who sought treatment most often did so for reasons other than their homosexuality.

As for 'reparative therapy' or conversion therapy, there is no published scientific evidence that can lend credence to the efficacy of such therapy as a treatment to change sexual orientation. There is no evidence either that any treatment can change a homosexual person's deep-seated sexual feelings for the same sex.

The association also said that clinical experience suggests that any person who seeks conversion therapy may be doing so because of social bias that has resulted in internalised homophobia and that gay men and lesbians who have accepted their sexual orientation positively are better adjusted than those who have not done so.

It explains that homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgement, stability, reliability or general social or vocational capabilities.

The association called on all international health organisations and psychiatrists to urge the repeal in their own countries of legislation that penalises private homosexual acts by consenting adults. It said they should do everything possible to decrease the stigma related to homosexuality.

Rights unprotected

In Malaysia, the authorities who speak of human rights deliberately and conveniently ignore the fact it is there for gays and lesbians too.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 makes no mention of stripping minority groups of their human rights simply because they are different in sexual orientation. It is our misfortune that some still relish playing moral guardians on matters as private as one's sexuality.

The issue of homosexuality is further compounded in Malaysia primarily because the official religion is Islam. Former de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim said last year that "developing and Islamic countries like Malaysia did not recognise sexual relations between people of the same sex".

Rais' statement is open to interpretation. Would Malaysia's stand on homosexuality be otherwise if it was not a Muslim country? Has religion become a pre-determining factor in deciding whose human rights are protected and whose are not?

To worsen matters, Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar failed to keep to his pledge made when tabling the Human Rights Bill in Parliament (the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act was enforced in 1999 and the Human Rights Commission or Suhakam was set up the same year).

Syed Hamid said: "This should be regarded as a positive development towards protecting the interests and realising the aspirations of our people."

Six years later, nothing has changed. Society is still as homophobic as it was then, and heterosexuals are just as ignorant today about homosexuality as they were then.

When Suhakam ticked off the media on stereotyping "effeminate men, masculine women' in August 2003, it was the first and the last we heard of the commission defending the human rights of homosexuals.

Because of their own insecurities, leaders took an immature stand when Malaysia objected to the draft entitled 'Human rights and sexual orientation', proposed by Brazil in 2003 at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and which was brought up again the following year.

At that time Suhakam vice-chairperson Simon Sipaun, in responding to Malaysia's stand on the draft, remarked that "despite wanting to respect the rights of minorities, the laws of the land needed to be upheld as well".

And precisely because of leaders' ignorance of the issue of homosexuality and the existence of homophobia, there is much reservation among homosexuals to reach out and educate the public.

It is simply because there is little courage among people to hear the truth, which is that the world is as much home to gays, lesbians and bisexuals as it is to them.

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.