LETTER | Every now and then, we have Malaysians targeting the LGBT community in the country, calling for severe penalties against an already persecuted group of people.

The latest to join this chorus is Hanafiah Abd Malek, who has urged the government to adopt North Korea’s strict control of the internet to handle the LGBT community.

According to him, besides Facebook and the like, “the application that is most dangerous in causing this movement to grow strongly is WeChat.”

Hanafiah believes that through this medium, “the LGBT group starts to connect and expand.”

This not only goes to demonstrate his ignorance, but also encourages bigotry and hatred against the community.

The culture of hatred and intolerance in our society today against those who are different, be it on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation are worrying.

It goes against the spirit of inclusion, and has given rise to hate crimes against this already vulnerable community.

Laws criminalising homosexuality, as in Malaysia, pose a serious threat to the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

Malaysia faced a huge disappointment last year when they lost their bid to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Out of sixteen countries that were vying for a spot on the council, Malaysia was the sole candidate to lose its bid.

This was because of the country’s marginal human rights record: the lid on press freedom, the abuse of Special Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), election gerrymandering, identity and racial politics, the ongoing persecution against the LGBT community, and the list goes on.

Ironically, Putrajaya representatives on Tuesday said that the LGBT community is being treated “equally” when queried by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) committee in Geneva, Switzerland.

The committee also expressed concern over the protection of LGBT students in schools.

The country’s Education Ministry has sent circulars to schools on how to identify gay and lesbian students to combat what they call as an unhealthy phenomenon amongst students.

A young boy was beaten to death just outside his school compound following this initiative. The students who killed him said he walked funny and therefore they felt justified to do so.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has, in his speeches, observed the LGBT community as a threatening “deviant culture.”

And therefore it’s no surprise that the government turns a blind eye to those who spew venom and encourage hatred against the LGBT community, such as Hanafiah.

But this systemic discrimination against the LGBT community continues to make Malaysia a dangerous and hostile place for them to live in.

Therefore, the Malaysian government must repeal all laws and regulations that discriminate against the LGBT people without further delay.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.