The Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs (Accin) has condemned Seksualiti Merdeka and similar initiatives that advocate equal rights for homosexuals as going against all religions.

Despite the differences in the various religions, Accin said, they all shared common moral values, with gambling, alcoholism and adultery, be it among heterosexuals, homosexuals, transgenders and so forth, are wrong and sinful.

"Homosexuality is clearly against the majority of religions... its rejection as a human right is clearly stated in the authoritative texts of all religions,” Accin secretary Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor said.

The coalition also slammed women's rights group Empower and Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) for their roles in the "Roundtable Discussion on Gender Equality: Unaddressed Women's Rights Issues" on Monday ,which touched on lesbian and transgender rights, and the Bar Council for its programme tonight entitled "Human Rights for LGBTIQ: Making it Real in Malaysia".

‘Defaming religion’

    

It further condemned accusations against religious groups that they were homophobic (feared or disliked homosexuals) or transphobic (feared transsexuals) as a defamation of religion.

“Accin calls on political parties and communities of various religions to voice out against baseless accusations of transphobia, homophobia and heterosexualism against religions as well as the action of exploiting religion to legitimise adultery,” Roslan said.

He added in a statement yesterday that this was evidence that a discriminatory trend towards religion, based on religiophobia (fear of religion), and in particular Islamophobia (fear of Islam), was on the rise.

The comments come following condemnation by conservative and religious groups against Seksualiti Merdeka for its Nov 9 programmes advocating equal rights for homosexuals and transgender people.

“Accin hopes that politicians and society will not be influenced by such a sociopolitical movement, and more specifically when it involves the transgender issue,” said Roslan.

He added that transexualism was recognised as a mental illness by the World Health Organisation and those facing it should be given help, instead of recognition as a human right.

Accin is an umbrella grouping of 17 Islamic NGOs, which include Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).

SIS calls for restraint

Meanwhile, Sisters in Islam (SIS) in a statement said it concurred that many Muslims were opposed to granting rights to sexual minorities but called on the people to exercise wisdom in their response.

“This dialogue, especially on thorny issues, is important for all Malaysians in our quest to understand how to manage diversity and disagreements in civil ways.

“Furthermore, the reality is that sexual minorities in Malaysia, especially Muslims, are vulnerable to numerous abuses by state and community actors, which often threaten their very lives,” SIS said.

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