MUJAHID Yusof Rawa said anyone identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) should not be discriminated in the workplace. 

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs was responding to a question if anyone involved in LGBT issues can work in the government. 

“The issue is not that. The issue is any citizen of Malaysia is free and cannot be discriminated in the workplace,” the Parit Buntar MP told reporters at the Parliament lobby today. 

The question was posed to him after Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman’s aide Numan Afifi, an LGBT activist, was forced to quit as media officer.

Numan was the organiser of the Pride Day breaking of fast last year.

When asked to comment on Numan’s resignation, Mujahid said he resigned voluntarily and it was his choice.

“He chose to resign, so I have no comment if someone chooses to resign without any pressure.

“If there is any pressure, then he has to prove it.”

Numan previously said he will be going abroad in the near future to “determine his next move”.

Critics, who called Numan a “champion of LGBT causes”, said it was inappropriate to employ him as a government officer.

Civil society organisations and politicians defended Numan’s personal life choices, adding that it should not be a basis for his appointment. – July 17, 2018.