Where does Malaysia stand on gay rights? Despite promises of Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan, nobody knows

An outburst by a Malaysian minister who criticised a feminist rally attended by gay rights campaigners is the latest sign the government is reneging on pre-election vows to improve the country’s dismal human rights record, critics say.

Islamic Affairs Minister Mujahid Rawa sparked uproar among activists when he said the presence of members of the gay community at the Women’s March Malaysia on Saturday was “shocking”, an “abuse” of democracy and an attempt to “defend practices that are against Islamic teachings”.

The rally, which was supposed to mark International Women’s Day and was attended by ordinary citizens in addition to activists and non-governmental organisations, had made a series of demands to improve women’s rights, including an end to child marriage, a dignified minimum wage for all and an end to gender-based discrimination.

But its demand to end discrimination based on sexual orientation drew opposition from the minister, who said the government was unable to recognise something that was against the law.

They say that nearly a year after the comparatively liberal Pakatan Harapan led by Mahathir Mohamad ousted the right-wing Barisan Nasional coalition last May, it has shown little sign of making good on those promises. If anything, activists say, it is showing signs of abandoning them in a bid to win the support of the country’s largest voting bloc – rural, Malay Muslims who remain deeply conservative and unsympathetic towards human rights issues.

Activist Thilaga Sulathireh, of the NGO Justice for Sisters, said Mujahid’s comments had served only to inflame public sentiment and divert attention from the rally’s original premise: women’s rights.