ENFORCEMENT agents raided a popular monthly drag show last night (Oct 29) and arrested several drag queens and Muslim transgenders, a crackdown that was criticised as discriminatory and excessive and highlights the challenges queer people face in existing in Malaysia.
Yesterday’s Shagrilla show, staged in conjunction with Halloween tomorrow (Oct 31), was held at performance and event venue REXKL in Kuala Lumpur. It was a private event, according to community organiser Numan Afifi.
Recounts on social media from attendees, and confirmed to FocusM by activists, showed members of the Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM), Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (JAWI) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) arriving on the scene towards the end of the night and stopping people from leaving.
Shortly after midnight, a few attendees got arrested and 20 individuals were transported in Black Maria trucks to JAWI’s Kuala Lumpur office for investigations, tweeted Numan, a prominent gay rights activist who was called in for questioning as well.
Numan, who attended the event and went to JAWI’s office with other human rights defenders and activists, said the group got 20 volunteers to bail out those detained:
Shagrilla shows are aimed at celebrating inclusivity among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) folk, whose existence is criminalised in Malaysia through a number of state, federal and shariah legislations and jeopardised by ongoing attempts by the authorities to “rehabilitate” them.
Crossdressing, for instance, is illegal in most state shariah laws, as is sexual relations between adults of the same sex, even if they are consensual, while transgender people, in particular, face widespread discrimination and harassment in Malaysia, with several violent murders reported in recent years.
Numerous parties and individuals slammed the crackdown and arrests, including human rights group Article 19 Malaysia, community hub People Like Us Hang Out! (PLUHO) and political party Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) Youth wing.
“Not only is the raid at #REXKL a clear attack on the LGBT+ community, (but) it also highlights the role the state plays when it chooses to use repressive apparatuses to persecute marginalised groups in this country,” wrote Pemuda Sosialis on Twitter.
Religiopolitical extremism analyst and activist Aizat Shamsuddin tweeted: “Malaysian enforcement authorities and their mismatched priorities – going after a group of people for their identity expressions (rather) than the pig-butchering scams and human trafficking syndicates that are obviously and seriously prevalent security threats right now.”
Others questioned the crackdown of a private event in a private space, noting that hundreds of “straight” parties are held during this period.
“Easiest target”
“But (the) election is coming and the LGBT+ community is the easiest target, wrote netizen Johan Ariff Juhari on Twitter, adding: “And the political parties that claim to champion all Malaysians are quiet.”
One user claimed that the event organisers had all the necessary permits and even met with the police yesterday to brief them about the event. “This was not (an) ‘illegal party’ or whatnot,” clarified John Van Huizen.
Michelle Yesudas said going after queer people at an event is an “inhumane, disgusting” move:
Like many others, she said this is why those who tell LGBTQ+ people in Malaysia to “keep quiet” and wait for “other” political processes to fall into place are wrong.
“All rights are connected; if they can invade and erode queer spaces, they WILL erode and invade your community too,” she tweeted.
User Aidil Iman agreed, saying: “Homophobes are constantly telling LGBTQ Malaysians to express (themselves) in private. But even our private spaces are no longer safe from prosecution.”
On the other hand, Rohan Javet Beg tweeted: “It is mind-boggling to me how state resources can actually be mobilised for something as innocuous as a Halloween party. Regardless of how else the homophobes will try to spin it, that’s all it was.
“The mission was, for all intents and purposes, the suppression of queer joy,” he claimed, adding that last night’s raid illustrates just how much the LGBTQ+ community in Malaysia remains “perpetually endangered” by the law. – Oct 30, 2022
Main photo credit: Wasan+963’s Twitter
