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KUALA LUMPUR – ONE of Malaysia’s highest Islamic bodies has banned females from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex, saying it was forbidden by the religion.

The National Fatwa Council on Thursday issued its ruling following a two-day meeting that discussed recent cases of young women apparently behaving like men and exhibiting homosexual tendencies, state news agency Bernama reported.

Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin told Bernama many young women admired the way men dress, behave and socialise, violating human nature and denying their femininity.

‘It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear,’ Mr Abdul Shukor was quoted as saying.

‘(Masculine behaviour) becomes clearer when they start to have sex with someone of the same gender, that is woman and woman,’ he said.

‘In view of this, the National Fatwa Council which met today have decided and taken the stand that such acts are forbidden and banned,’ he said.

AWARE, the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (H.O.M.E.), Sayoni and the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) express concerns at the UN review of Singapore’s gender equality.

From left: Vanessa Ho from Sayoni, IWRAW intern Kari Rotkin, Malathi Das from SCWO, Braema Mathi from AWARE, Jean Chong from Sayoni, Nadzirah Samsudin from AWARE, Kelly Then from Sayoni, and Laura Hwang from SCWO

1. Gender equality experts from the CEDAW Committee asked more than 100 questions during an intense, five-hour Constructive Dialogue with Singapore’s State delegation at the 49^th CEDAW session on 22 July 2011, in the New York headquarters of the United Nations.

Dear Ms Thio

I am not as learned as you in law. I am but a first-year law student. A law student who happens to identify as queer, and has spent the last two years working in the queer activism scene, who now loves a woman, who now wishes to rid this country of the blight known as section 377A.

Ms Thio, I am sure you know this section very well… in fact, you dedicated an entire speech to the impassioned defence of it, not even touching on things like marital rape immunity. I am surprised… I thought an educated, feminist woman like yourself would have some feelings on this section which effectively takes away the right of married women to their bodies…. but I digress. You expounded in detail upon the merits of retaining this law. You showed us all how much you hate us gay people – like we couldn’t tell from the letters to ST. When I read your speech, my first impulse was to laugh. Then as I read on, cringing at the leaps of logic, and wincing at the palpable hatred pouring out of the paper.

I will now proceed to rebutt you: point by point.

We would like to call on our readers to sign this petition, addressed to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, to support his message of decriminalising homosexuality.

Leaders of 54 Commonwealth nations, including PM Lee, will be meeting in Perth from Oct 28-30 for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Reports say that human rights will be an important focus of the summit, with news surfacing that there will be a push for these ex-British colonies to repeal their homophobic laws. The issue on people's minds will be the continuing relevance or irrelevance of the Commonwealth as an institution.

Link to petition:

http://www.allout.org/en/actions/wearenotillegal

Latest news:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/10/26/commonwealth-secretary-general-backs-gay-rights/

Speaking in Perth, Australia, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, Mr Sharma said Commonwealth countries should “embrace difference” and commit to “tolerance, respect and understanding”.

He said: “We recall the 2009 Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles, which includes a clear commitment to tolerance, respect and understanding. This means we embrace difference, and that includes sexual identity.

And this is what happened at the actual event, a day after the civil society statement. Thio Li-Ann, law professor and anti-gay rights crusader, was there to speak on the topic of international human rights law.

Activists stood in front of the stage with their placards and taped-up mouths, while two others positioned themselves with a rainbow flag in Thio's line of sight. Notably, they kept their silence, and their protest carried on alongside Thio's speech.

Thio Li-ann

Sayoni and nearly a hundredcivil societyindividuals and organisations issued this statement, dated 3 December 2014, in response to the EU Delegation to Singapore's invitation to Thio Li Ann to speak at a seminar commemorating Human Rights Day in Singapore.

The Straits Times: Civil society members protest law professor's invitation to speak at human rights seminar

The Online Citizen: Statement of concern on Thio Li-Ann as speaker at EU human rights seminar

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We, the undersigned, write to express our disappointment at the choice of Prof Thio Li Ann as a speaker for the Human Rights Day seminar hosted by the EEAS European Union Delegation to Singapore.

It is a matter of public record that Prof Thio: -

1.believes the LGBT community is not entitled to the protections of human rights with respect to issues of sexuality, even between consenting homosexual adults.

Sayoni is conducting a research study to document cases of human rights violations against LBTQ (lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer) women in Singapore because of gender or sexuality. This information will be gathered through semi-structured face-to-face interviews.

If you meet the following criteria, we invite you to participate:

-    Identify as female and LBTQ
-    Have experienced discrimination and/or violence in Singapore as a result of your gender or sexual orientation
-    Aged 18 and above
-    Have lived in Singapore for more than a year

The data collected will be kept anonymous and strictly confidential. We will do our utmost to protect the privacy and safety of respondents.

Your participation is important to help us understand the community’s needs and drive advocacy work to meet these needs. The findings will also fuel our other efforts to improve the day-to-day experiences of LBTQ women and enable their inclusion and participation in Singapore society.

We would be happy to provide more information. Please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to sign up or find out more.