WITH the significant advances in attitudes towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community for most of Asia and also globally, Malaysia’s regressive attitude towards this group could possibly impact the country economically, says a civil society group.

Thilaga Sulathireh, co-founder of Justice for Sisters, a local transgender-rights group, said Malaysia’s stand as a strong anti-LGBT nation would not be financially beneficial in the long run. 

“Malaysia has already banned Disney’s Lightyear, Thor: Love and Thunder, and others.”

“This really impacts the economy. Any form of discrimination, be it homophobia, transphobia, sexism or whatever has financial implications.”

“We are already seeing how Malaysia’s strong anti-LGBT position is having an impact on businesses.”

“I don’t think Malaysia’s position as an anti-LGBT nation would be sustainable in the long run,” Thilaga said after releasing a 71-page report titled “‘I Don’t Want to Change Myself’: Anti-LGBT Conversion Practices, Discrimination, and Violence in Malaysia.” 

Justice for Sisters and Human Rights Watch co-published the report, in which they document how government officials have fostered a hostile climate on LGBT and gender diverse people, facing discrimination and punishment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Thilaga, who is an advocate of sexuality rights, said that there is no way one can escape the progress of LGBT rights, which she describes as a global transformation. 

She said anyone that continues to avert progress is “isolating” themselves from development. 

“There is no way of escaping this (LGBT) progress.”

“If you do that, it means one is isolating themselves,” she said. 

Thilaga said that with the majority of the population on social media now, she said people cannot escape Pride Month. 

Taking place every June, Pride Month celebrates the self-affirmation, dignity, equality and increased visibility of LGBT people. 

The month-long celebration was given the name “Pride” to encourage those feelings as the community comes together to celebrate and bolster the LGBTQ+ rights movements.

With the transformation happening across the globe on the acceptance of LGBT rights, Thilaga said that she is optimistic that changes would indeed happen in this country. 

She, however, expressed her concern on how conservatives would react to the changes, if it happened.

“With the global transformation we are seeing, of course we hope for a positive impact.”

“On the flip side, we have also seen how conservatives react to progress. A lot of time, some of the discrimination and hostile actions we have seen are from this group,” she said.

In recent years, there have been significant shifts in attitude towards the LGBT community in Southeast Asia.

Spearheading this change in the region is Vietnam. The nation has been hailed by the media for its progressive laws on LGBT rights. 

Throughout its history, there have been no laws against homosexuality or any state sanctioned persecution of same-sex activity. 

Taiwan remains the first country in Asia to recognise same-sex marriage, Vietnam only decriminalised it in 2015. 

In 2015, Vietnam passed a law enshrining rights for transgender people, allowing those who have undergone sex reassignment surgery to register under their new gender. 

Besides this, the Philippines is also seen making progress on the LGBT front despite the strong religious fervour within the government. 

In a research carried out by the Pew Research Center in 2013, the Philippines was ranked as the 10th most gay-friendly country in the world. The research showed that 73% of adult Filipinos agreed that society should accept homosexuality. 

In 2018, Myanmar hosted an LGBT festival in public for the first time with over 6,000 people attending on the first day alone. 

In Cambodia, annual LGBT Pride celebrations are held every year. – August 11, 2022.