MALAYSIA LESBIAN COUPLE ARRESTED BY RELIGIOUS OFFICERS IN HOTEL RAID

The two female Malaysian students could face up to three months in jail and six cane strokes after a sex toy was found in their room during a 'hotel raid' by religious officers.

BY DARREN WEE

A lesbian couple was arrested by religious officers yesterday during a raid of a budget hotel in Malaysia.

Nine officers from the Johor Islamic Religious Department raided their room in Johor Bahru at around 12.45am, the Sinar Harian newspaper reported.

One of the women answered the door while the other was naked in the bathroom.

The women, both students aged 20 and 21, were not initially suspected of breaching 'close proximity' laws but officers became wary when the women remained silent as they searched the room.

When a sex toy was found, one of the women admitted they were a lesbian couple. On further questioning, she said they had not yet used the toy, which had just been removed from its packaging after recently being bought online.

The women were arrested for lesbian sex under section 26 of the state’s Shariah law and taken to a police station for booking, then to the religious department's office for further action.

They could face up to three months in jail, six cane strokes and a fine of RM5,000.

Sisters In Islam (SIS) has urged the religious department to conduct a thorough investigation of the women.

SIS legal officer Rashidi Abd Rahim told the Raykat Post that the news report failed to show any criminal element and prosecutors had to prove that a sex act had taken place.

“Otherwise we will open the flood gates with people prosecuted based on an accusation,” he said.

He added that he hoped the women would be given adequate legal representation.

Gay Rights an Issue in Singapore

Does Senior Pastor Khong know about this?

Churches demand that the government not decriminalize gay sex
Members of Singapore's Christian community have ignited a rising controversy over gay rights, to the point where the Attorney-General Chambers has reminded all parties that the High Court is hearing two cases on a section of the penal code which criminalizes sexual acts between men, and that any comments "calculated to affect the minds of the courts hearing the case" will be held in contempt of court.

The current controversy began with a statement from Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong of the Faith Community Baptist Church, made during a visit to the church by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, the former prime minister.

During his address, Khong appealed to Goh for the Singapore government to retain Section 377A of the Penal Code, which states that "Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years."

The code was amended in 2007 to remove criminal sanctions on lesbians and other offenders, but kept the stricture against gay men. The government has promised that the law will not be "proactively enforced" although the topic has once again gained public attention as challenges to the section are pending in court. Two applications had been taken out against the section, one by a gay couple and another by a man initially charged under the section.

Last July, the government tolerated a gay rights organization called Pink Dot that drew more than 15,000 people to a local park to celebrate different sexual orientations. The movement has gained larger and larger crowds every year.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in debate over the amending the law in 2007, told Singapore's parliament that "Singapore is basically a conservative society...The family is the basic building block of this society. And by family in Singapore we mean one man, one woman, marrying, having children and bringing up children within that framework of a stable family unit."

Fundamentalist American-style mega-churches that peddle religion, showbiz and virulent social conservatism have been gaining strength in a society that has always maintained an uneasy balance over religion. The government has allowed plenty of it as long as it doesn't get too fervent.

However, the new evangelical churches for instance have been making explicit attacks on homosexuality, claiming in defiance of all medical expertise and any notion of equality and common sense that it can and should be "cured."

Khong's statement, which was also posted on his Facebook page, attracted a flurry of comments, many of which were pro-gay rights. The reaction led to a series of posts addressing "the homosexual agenda" and charges that the repeal of the prohibition would "open the door for the advancement of the homosexual agenda in Singapore." With the patriotic call of "Majulah Singapura" (Onward Singapore), Khong encouraged Singaporeans to oppose the repeal.

Khong's message to Goh was picked up by Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong from the Cornerstone Community Church, whose blog post initially said "the church must get herself into battle footing, and be battle-ready" against the LGBT community. The post has since been edited.

The two pastors are also leading members of LoveSingapore, a network that represents about 40,000 Christians in the country. The network has stated that it would organize to oppose the repeal of Section 377A.

"If they [the LGBT community] had not pushed for the repeal, we would not come out into the public square," Yang told The Straits Times. "You touch a law that affects us, we have the right to speak up."

Many Singaporeans have responded to the anti-gay sentiment. Actor Lim Yu Beng posted an open letter to Khong, asking, "Nobody is making it compulsory for him to be gay. Why should he make it compulsory for others to be straight?"

Reverend Miak Siew from the Free Community Church also penned a response: "The repeal of 377A poses no threat to families bound together by love. Instead, the idea of a "traditional family" is a threat to all families - because it has placed obstacles in how parents understand their children who are different and it has made people who do not fit in - whether they are single parents, divorcees, or children who are orphaned, whose parents are not around by circumstance - ashamed of who they are."

(Kirsten Han blogs for Asian Correspondent. A version of this story appeared on that website)

Putrajaya lists homosexual ‘symptoms’ to prevent spread among schoolchildren

2 KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Putrajaya has endorsed a list of identifiable gay and lesbian traits to schools and parents to prevent the spread of the phenomenon among teenagers, especially students, according to media reports.

The list published today by the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily says that gay men have muscular bodies and like to show off by wearing V-neck and sleeveless clothes, prefer tight and light-coloured clothing, are attracted to men and like to carry big handbags similar to those used by women.

Lesbians are said to be attracted to women, like to eat, sleep and hang out in the company of other women and have no affection for men, according to the report, which quoted the guidelines published by the Yayasan Guru Malaysia Bhd and Putrajaya Consultative Council of Parents and Teachers Associations.

Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi (picture) said few people understood or knew the early “symptoms” of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community to prevent its spread.

"The time has come for the LGBT issue to be discussed openly and not seen as a "taboo"," Bernama quoted him as saying after launching the Parents Handling LGBT Issues seminar in Penang yesterday.

Puad said the ministry took a serious view of the LGBT issue and did not want it to start in schools as it could lead to bigger problems if not contained.

"In our country, there are signs of support among certain parties to the Seksualiti Merdeka movement whose objectives are to defend the LGBT community on human rights grounds," he said.

He reminded parents to monitor their children's activities especially those surfing the Internet, so that they are not influenced by websites and social medias run by LGBT supporters.

Homosexuality has long been considered taboo by Malaysia's dominant Malay community, which professes that it is against the teachings of Islam. Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad sacked his then deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on charges of sodomy and abuse of power in 1998, saying such behaviour is unacceptable for a Malaysian leader.

Anwar went free six years later after the sodomy conviction was overturned. He fought off a similar charge earlier this year.

But Putrajaya's latest move against homosexuality started last year when the annual human rights event, Seksualiti Merdeka, was banned by the Home Ministry.

The sexuality rights festival, which would have seen the hosting of forums, theatre, musical performances and movie screenings, was branded by the mainstream media as a "sex party for the LGBT community".>

In April, Jaringan Melayu Malaya (JMM) used Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan's invite to officiate the event as proof that she supported LGBT rights in what can be seen as a move to discredit the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH) struggle before it's rally on April 28.

In July, both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Anwar voiced their disapproval of the LGBT community.

Najib had said during an assembly of 11,000 members of mosque committees in Serdang that LGBTs were "enemies of Islam".

Anwar had testified in court that he supports discrimination against LGBTs while saying that laws would be reviewed should a Pakatan Rakyat federal government be formed.

Yesterday, the Opposition leader withdrew his lawsuit against former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan who admitted being sodomised by Anwar in lodging his police report.

Counsel Ranjit Singh said the suit was withdrawn because Anwar's reputation had been vindicated by the acquittal of his sodomy charge.

Johorean women find a match in each other

The Sun
by Kong See Hoh

PETALING JAYA (July 31, 2011): The first publicised marriage between two women made headline news in Chinese dailies today.

The couple from Batu Pahat, identified only as Thomas, 29, and Apple, 27, received the blessings of relatives and friends in a full Chinese traditional marriage ceremony on Saturday.

Thomas, in white suit, and Apple, in a white bridal gown exchanged vows in front of their parents and friends before the tea ceremony.

The couple shed tears of joy as they received ang pows, jewellery and most of all well-wishes from their parents.

Earlier, the “groom” and her entourage had to overcome the usual sisters’ barrier at the bride’s house before “he” was allowed to take the bride home.

Contacted by Oriental Daily News, Apple said the decision to spend the rest of her life with Thomas was made after a two-year courtship.

She said they had no problem getting their parents’ consent, whom she described as “being very understanding”.