A Negri Sembilan High Court judge failed to consider all medical evidence and harassment against the transgender community into account in deciding not to overrule a law banning men "posing" as women, local and foreign NGOs say.

"We are saddened to hear that the court has ruled in favour of the state and its officers, thus condoning discrimination and violence on grounds of gender identity.

"We are also shocked by the reliance on Islamic texts in her ruling to justify the existence of the law when it is the (federal) constitution that is the supreme law of Malaysia," the NGOs said in a joint statement released yesterday.

They argued that Section 66 of the Syariah Criminal (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 1992 was inconsistent with constitutional guarantees on the freedom of expression, right to non-discrimination, dignity, privacy and the right to livelihood.

The statement was endorsed by 20 local and foreign NGOs, including Justice for Sisters, Islamic Renaissance Front, Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat and Human Rights Education Institute of Burma.

They expressed disappointment with justice Siti Mariah Ahmad's decision in the Seremban High Court on Oct 11 not to overrule Section 66 of the Syariah Enactment, and her declaration that the four transgenders who brought the case were born male and that cross-dressing is condemned in Islam.

'Not their choice'

The NGOs also quoted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, where the American Psychiatric Association (APA) replaced the term "gender identity disorder" with "gender dysphoria," or "a marked incongruence between one's experienced or expressed gender and assigned gender".

In addition, they said, the APA had issued statements calling for the abolition of laws and policies that discriminate against transgender people.

"Transgender people do not choose to be transgender and neither can we change it. We do not impersonate or pose as the opposite sex.

"We live in disharmony with our assigned gender, and express ourselves based on how we feel on the inside, which gives us inner peace and personal happiness," the groups added in their statement.