TAKING the first step by meeting with transgender community representatives today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa urged the public to stop the discrimination against the community.

The minister in charge of Islamic Affairs said transgender people are an easy target of discrimination due to their appearances and it would not help them integrate into society.

“On the transgender (community), it’s not about the rights to have same-sex marriage, it’s just that they want to live as transgender, to live like normal Malaysians and to us, we have no problem with that.

“What’s important is we help these people to get out of the bigger issue, like workplace discrimination,” he told reporters after a meeting with transgender activists, including Nisha Ayub, Putrajaya today.

The meeting was initiated by Nisha following the recent furore over the minister’s order to remove photographs of Nisha and another sexual minority activists from an arts festival in Penang.

Nisha’s portrait and that of Pang Khee Teik were removed from a photography exhibition at the ongoing George Town Festival 2018 that runs until September.

Held in conjunction with the Merdeka month, the exhibition’s theme, Strokes and Stripes, is supposed to display the patriotism of various individuals who are prominent in Malaysian society.

Also exhibited are the portraits of DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, lawyer and activist Siti Kasim and activist Marina Mahathir. Mujahid ordered the removal after receiving complaints.

He said their display amounted to promoting LGBT activism, which was not in line with the Pakatan Harapan government’s policies.

He has since come under fire on social media and in letters to the press, with critics saying that his actions showed that the “new Malaysia” after the change of government at recent the elections was no different from the previous administration, which suppressed and discriminated against sexual minorities.

He then said he ordered the removal of the portraits in order to protect them from public backlash.

On today’s meeting, Mujahid said it was very positive and the government now had a better understanding of the transgender community.

“First thing to do is to get them independent financially. Secondly, to guide them and thirdly for the public to accept them.

“If the public continues to label them, to judge them and worst, to discriminate them, that’s why you have a very scary statistic that 80% of transgender people are involved in sex work, so we are not helping.

“I urge the public not to discriminate them, give them a chance, they are ordinary citizens and they want to contribute and just want to be like anyone else, to be able to go to school, to have equal access to healthcare, education and even places of worship,” he said, adding that today’s discussion went beyond the recent issue in Penang.

Nisha, meanwhile, said this was the first time a minister was willing to meet with representatives of the transgender community.

“I’m asking the public to stop stereotyping transgender people as a negative community. We are not harmful to anyone, we are part of society, we are Malaysians, and we have family.

“We just want to be treated with respect and dignity,” she said. – August 10, 2018.