THE scourge of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is a much bigger problem compared to the issue of child marriages, according to participants of a rally defending Malays and Muslims’ rights.

Protestors who gathered for the Himpunan Kebangkitan Ummah rally in Kelab Sultan Sulaiman yesterday slammed the criticisms against child marriages, while acceptance for the LGBT community grows.

They took minister in charge of religious affairs, Mujahid Yusof Rawa, to task for declaring that the LGBT community had the same rights as any other citizen as long as they didn’t flout any laws.

“At least child marriages save the brides from poverty and so on; LGBT doesn’t save anything,” said a protestor who only wanted to be known as Kak Pah.

“Which is worse, marrying your child legally, or the perverted scourge of LGBT?”

The case of a 42-year-old man from Kelantan who took an 11-year-old Thai girl for his third wife last month elicited calls for the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to outlaw child marriages.

The man had wed the young girl according to Muslim rites in Golok, Thailand, without the consent of his first two wives.

Activists are demanding that the groom, who was slapped with a fine, be charged for sexually grooming the young bride before marrying her.

But most of yesterday’s rally-goers dismissed the outcry by children’s rights groups as over-the-top.

“They’re just blowing up the matter on purpose, when in fact it is an isolated case compared to LGBT,” said 48-year-old Mohd Zahid Abd Ghani.

Zahid then clarified that he was not encouraging underaged marriages, but believed there could be valid reasons for the man to marry the young girl.

“Not like we want to encourage it, but it may have happened because the family has problems and the marriage will help,” he said.

Mohd Affandi Ismail, 27, said he believed that the issue was being used to attack Islam.

“These rights activists are the same ones promoting perverted sexual practices; man with man, woman with woman and so on,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“But yet they are intentionally playing up (child marriages) to portray Islam as if it exploits children and women, whereas LGBT is the real exploitation,” he said.

Kak Mie, 48, agreed that as long as a child marriage had gotten the consent of the family members and the individuals involved, it should not be a problem.

“And in any case, the husband can only live with the child when she reaches 16, so actually there isn’t a problem,” she said.

The rally attracted some 1,000 protestors and was organised by 20 pressure groups claiming to defend and champion the rights of the Malays, and the sanctity of Islam.

Speakers at the rally called for PH to defend the special rights of the Malays, preserve the national language and to counter the rise of the LGBT community.

Apart from Malay nationalist group Perkasa, Muslim conservative grouping Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), and several other groups, the rally was also attended by several Umno and PAS leaders. – July 29, 2018.