The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) today urged the media to practice "balanced, fair and ethical standards" of reporting on issues concerning 'effeminate men' and 'masculine women'.

"This is because slanted media reports could lead to further persecution of an already vulnerable group," said rights commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan.

Hamdan's advice followed the protest by a group of concerned citizens against the recent spate of media reports purportedly attacking "effeminate men, masculine women, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals".

Led by Shanon Shah, who addressed the protest letter to Suhakam chairman Abu Talib Othman, the group spoke on what they called the 'demonisation' of such marginalised and minority groups.

"The demonisation of such groups based on their sexual identities could soon lead to demonising groups on the basis of ethnicity, religion, class, nationality or political affiliation," he said.

Shanon also protested the links made by the media between effeminate men, homosexuality and general misconduct and a decline in moral values.

Negative reports

He lamented that an outcome of such negative reports was the case of a schoolboy being told off by his teacher to act more masculine or he would not be allowed to attend his class.

According to Shanon, the affected individuals are made more vulnerable by such unfair representation of the media.

"A functioning democracy should protect its marginalised citizens, not persecute them," he said.

Shanon's comments were echoed by Women's Aid Organisation communications officer Jaclyn Kee ( right ), who criticised the media for being biased and overtly moralistic.

The memorandum, which was received by commissioner Hamdan and Suhakam secretary Kamaruddin Mohd Baria, urged the human rights body to protect the rights of all individuals perceived as effeminate men, masculine women, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.

They called on Suhakam to work together with the media to educate the public and to nurture a more positive and enabling environment surrounding the issues of sexuality, sexual health, and sexual orientation.

The memorandum, which was endorsed by nine non-governmental organisations and 132 individuals, also called for the repeal of all laws that outlaw mutually consensual sexual behaviour between adults.

Repeal anti-gay laws 'difficult'

Hamdan, who is also a professor of mass communications at a local university, spoke on the need to cooperate with the mass media in order to deal with the issue fairly.

"Suhakam might be able to affect some changes in the manner the issue of 'effeminate men' and 'masculine women' has been dealt with," he said.

However, he added, the repeal of laws on gays, lesbians, bisexual and trans-gender individuals would be considerably more difficult considering the cultural milieu and norms of the country.

"We have to always consider the religious norms of the majority of the population of this country, of which Islam is the official religion."

The upshot of the matter, said Hamdan, is the difficulty of politically juggling various perspectives on the same issue.

"Whereas representatives of marginalised and minority groups are seeking to have their concerns addressed, there are others also who have different views on the same issue."

He said Suhakam will look into the matter and investigate the issue thoroughly before initiating any moves to solve the issue.