The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender story

Published by Free Malaysia Today on 7 November 2011.

From Nawawi Mohamad, via e-mail

While the Bar Council has defended the Merdeka Sexuality Festival, Ambiga Sreenevasan has supported it and the country’s number two cop had announced that it has been banned, many of us do not really know how difficult and how bad is it to be a LGBT.

Islam prohibits this kind of relationship between people of the same sex. However Islam does deal with individuals who face this kind problem in determining their gender. The point is Islam tackles the issue at its bud. Unfortunately the authorities have not really put a serious effort in solving the issues. But this is typical of the Umno-BN government; they never really resolve any issues.

The problem with the LGBT people is that their problems started from adolescence up to old age but the damage will also affect others from the start and continue even after their death simply because by having a group of LGBT in any community it adds to the already so many problems.

This way of life is not right. They have no moral right to exist in society simply because their way of life is immoral. The problem needs immediate and urgent attention by the relevant authorities before it is too late but. The problem needs to resolved humanely.

Growing up being different is not easy. Studies have shown that LGBT youth are at increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour.

LGBT youths face an increased risk of violence, compared with other students. Violence can include behaviors such as bullying, teasing, harassment and physical assaults. This is especially true in schools where signs of weakness or difference attract bullies like moths to the flame.

Starting from this young age LGBT individuals face the ‘coming out problems; the process of acknowledging your own sexual orientation or gender identity, deciding whom to talk about it with and how you can do that. Coming out is in reality a process which occurs again and again throughout life for most LGBT individuals. Some will take their entire lives to just trying hard to be indentified and acknowledged by society. The not so long ago on the death of “Aleesha” proved the point.

As they grow up, they will faced with more difficulties. Multiple studies have established that homosexual conduct, especially among males, is considerably more hazardous to one’s health than a lifetime of chain smoking. While the medical consensus is that smoking knocks several years off an individual’s life expectancy, the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) study found that homosexual conduct shortens the lifespan of “gays” by an astounding “8 to 20 years” – more than twice that of smoking. They are at a higher risk of getting AIDS and other sexual transmitted diseases. AIDS have been confirmed as a gay disease.

While some do have proper employment, many are not so fortunate. How can one have a successful education, with self-confidence when there are many problems other than that faced by a normal person? Due to this inherent disadvantage, the LGBT people will not be able to acquire the relevant qualifications and find it hard to find decent jobs thus many ended up in massage parlours or become sex workers, and adding to more negative things in their lives.

Studies comparing the normal women with the lesbian and bisexual women show that the latter have a higher risk of contracting uterine, breast, cervical, endometrial and ovarian cancers. They are less likely to become pregnant, thus do not benefit from the hormones released during pregnancy that protect against breast and ovarian cancers.

LGBT people will forever have relationship problem because of their stigma in society; they will always have difficulties in their ability to form and maintain wholesome relationships. They will also be faced with the nagging question whether or not their sexual behaviour is natural, compulsive or reactive.

They will keep wondering whether monogamy work would work because they have chosen this option. Despite the legitimacy given by some public figures, the happy front the LGBT people try to portray, their self-esteem will never be high, and they will always be looked down upon.

Those who are fortunate to be legally married will always want to have a complete life; have a family. The whole idea of having a family for the LGBT people is absurd. The child they brought up within their marriage will not be able to get a normal life like most of the kids. This is most unfair to the child who has no choice at all; things will just be imposed on the child.

The poor child will end up disillusioned and face much more challenging problems than the couple, all because of the lust and the self-interests of the parents. Their children will face serious problems as a result of the misguided sexual orientation of their parents as being normal.

LGBT people encounter the same range of traumatic events as heterosexual individuals. However, they may additionally come up against traumas specifically related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Same-sex domestic violence will bring with it even more stigma and barriers to appropriate support. As of today there is no group of experienced people who know how to help them. They will automatically be neglected and left on their own. They could be rejected by society.

As they grow older things will not improve either. Towards the end they may regret for choosing that path. Being queer will end up facing queer things. As there has not been much research in determining the fate of these LGBT elderly, they will just have to face their problems on their own. They will always be regarded as low lives and deserve the consequences of their lust, stubbornness, arrogance and self interest.

By highlighting the problems faced by the LGBT people, I hope those who are considering to choose this path will think hard and think many times; it is not a correct path to choose neither will it be successful.

They can put the blame on society, but society has its own problems. On the other hand the government, religious authorities and groups who simply belittled this group of people need to prevent the problem from the start if not, nothing can be done now to reverse the fate of the LGBTs.