A transgender activist has called for legal reform on issues of sexual orientation such as allowing sex reassignment surgery, as she spoke about the recent tragic death of Aleesha Farhana Abdul Aziz.

The activist, Nisha Ayub, suggested that one way for Malaysia to move progressively toward legal reform is to make sex reassignment surgery available in the country, and for local laws to recognise sex change.

"We need to change the policy in terms of the syariah law and think about making SRS (sex reassignment surgery) available here in Malaysia so that people don't need to go overseas to get the procedure done," she said.

Aleesha Farhana, 25, died in Kuala Terengganu on July 30, after she was admitted to the hospital the night before, suffering from heart problems and low blood pressure.

Born Mohd Ashraf Hafiz Abdul Aziz, she underwent an sex reassignment surgery in Thailand a year ago and had applied to the High Court in Kuala Terengganu for an order to change her name and gender.

The court rejected her bid on July 18 and Aleesha is said to have suffered from acute depression since then, until she was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah at 3am on July 29, suffering from “unstable angina with cardiogenic shock”.

Contentious point

Nisha said Islamic countries that were more conservative than Malaysia, such as Iran, have embraced transgender issues by allowing sex reassignment surgery and even providing facilities for sex change operations.

A contentious point that causes fierce opposition to transgenders from conservatives, she said, was the problem of bathing a deceased transgender according to Islamic rites.

However, Nisha, who is an activist with the Pink Triangle (PT) Foundation, a community-based organisation focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention, suggested that the government learns more about this from Iran.

"For Muslims, post-SRS (sex reassignment surgery) issues can be a difficult when it comes to how you are supposed to conduct the ‘mandi mayat’ and bury they body.”

The Islamic authorities in Malaysia, she said, should learn from Iran, instead of rejecting the request for gender change altogether.

‘Sex reassignment surgery was once accepted’

"Late in the 80s, when sexual reassignment surgery was done in Malaysia, it was accepted socially. But after the fatwa came out, things changed," added Nisha, who was a friend of Aleesha.

"Just because Malaysia is in a way controlled by the views of Islamic law, this matter however affects everybody, whether Muslim or not...

“You cannot do SRS in Malaysia. And if you do it outside the country, you cannot come back to live as a woman,” she explained.

Nisha added that it took more than a surgery to truly live as a woman. If such procedures are available in the country, there could perhaps be greater understanding about the issue.

Having such resources in Malaysia would also encourage public discourse and the issue could even be addressed regardless of religion because going through sex reassignment surgery was no simple matter.

'Court ruling based on religious grounds’

Although Nisha opposes the judge's decision disallowing Aleesha the right to change her gender, she personally feels that the court ruling was based on religious grounds.

"Personally, I feel it was made that way because Aleesha was a Muslim,” she said, adding that the judge's decision was inconsistent with a 2005 precedence where a ‘mak nyah’ won in a similar bid.

Further, there is no law in the country that states a person is not allowed to change his or her name and gender.

"Malaysia is run by Islamic views and whether it is a civil or constitutional matter, the Islamic view will eventually prevail," said Nisha.

“Aleesha was very joyful and chatty," said Nisha, who got to know her through a transgender support group on Facebook.

"She was going to wait until her hearing was over to come speak to our foundation... but sadly, she couldn't make it."