Politics & Gay

Obviously the two terms in my title don't go well with each other, huh?

Last week, TheStar published an article that kinda irked me. I'll paste the article here and link to the original site;

Police: Penang a gay sex services hub

PETALING JAYA: Penang is becoming a hub for commercial gay sex services and the local councils seem to encourage it, police claim.

Penang police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakub said police had raided health and fitness centres that were being used as a front for gay sex services over the past couple of years.

“Although we have forwarded our recommendations to the local councils not to renew the operators’ permits, we find the centres still in operation,” he said.

“Because of the local authorities’ inaction, the operators have become big-headed, acting as if they are above the law,” said DCP Ayub in an interview.

For instance, he said police raided a health club in Pulau Tikus about a month ago, but business was still continuing.

“In fact, all the premises that we have raided are still carrying on with their businesses,” he said, adding that police had identified at least five health clubs catering to gay activities in Fettes Park, Pulau Tikus, Bagan Jermal and Seberang Jaya.

“We should not allow such unhealthy culture to thrive here,” he said. DCP Ayub chided critics who claimed that such raids would hamper tourism.

Penang municipal councillor Tay Leong Seng said he would ask council officers for an explanation before making any comment.

Link - http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/15/nation/5863021&sec=nation

First and foremost, being an informed gay and also aware of the political scene in Malaysia, the article was obviously published to defame/degrade/cause loss of face to DAP's administration of the Penang state. They're trying to paint the picture that DAP is allowing 'immoral' activities running rampant in the state they are governing. TheStar, which is owned by MCA, part of the Barisan Nasional which is dominated by UMNO, is trying to tell people -

"See? Vote for DAP la! You get gays running rampant then"

Then, a day later, the Penang council was reported to say that they are doing their job to ensure 'these immoral' activities don't get carried out and etc etc which translates to,

"Oh yes, oh yes. Gay is wrong. We are fixing this right away"

First issue I wanna touch is to prove that TheStar is biased in reporting. These gay joints, saunas, massage parlors and etc are at least 3 times the number in Klang Valley, mostly in KL which is the Federal Territory ruled by the Barisan Nasional. Just fucking check Utopia Asia or google 'gay sauna kl' and you'll get plenty of joints to satisfy your need.

None of them get raided (I think they probably paid monthly 'fees') and when one does (forgot to pay, maybe), it does not come out in the newspaper at all.

Second thing I'm gonna touch is how both the government and the oppositions are both doing things that will only make them popular, which means marginalizing the minority. When it comes to politics these days, you have to be do something that is popular to get the support from everyone else. Raja Petra shared something in his blog today and I'm gonna use it as a point too.

In German, back before WWII, Hitler won the election despite his agenda is to exterminate all Jews. Of course, the majority of the Germans back then were not quite fond of Jews and they approved Hitler's motion. But was it a good thing? Subjective to interpretation, but it's definitely painful to be a Jew in Europe at that time.

In Malaysia, that means you have to appeal to the people from the rural area, the kampung folks, the conservative reserved people and of course the religious or moral upholding people. And of course, our Malay friends who also happened to be Muslim by default makes the majority in the country (nothing wrong on that).

So what do politicians do to ensure they get the votes? They do policies that will look as if they appeal to the majority. Inciting fear that the minorities will cause damage and harm to the majority and thus they should vote for their party.

Politicians have been doing this over the past 50 years. Abusing the majority by creating fear, lies and etc to cause insecurity to the majority that the minority is not good and without them (politicians), the majority will suffer which have worked over and over again.

But today, in my blog post, I'm not talking about race or religion. I'm talking about sexuality. Homosexuality to be exact. Replace majority with heterosexuality and minority with homosexuality and you'll see what I mean. Homosexuals are all over the planet, be it humans or animals. I cannot tell you or prove to you whether it's by choice or by genetic, but I can tell you that homosexuals are here to stay.

Coming back to Malaysian politics scene, politicians have always shunned the homosexual group while showing their disgusted face. Anwar Ibrahim was accused of being a homosexual by the government as an attempt to discredit him especially in the kampung areas where people are more conservative and not as tolerant or informed of differences of individuals.

The oppositions, even the more liberal DAP have kept mum over this issue as they fear losing popularity by accepting the gay community at large. Think of what those Chinese folks in the rural areas who are devoted Christians or Buddhists would think of them? PKR has over and over again tried to get their leader's hands off the accusation of being a homosexual, but that does not mean they cannot come into acceptance that there's nothing wrong with being gay. Getting PAS to accept homosexuals is definitely out of the question as I do remember it is forbidden for a man to love another man in the Quran.

So where does this lead the gay community to? Nowhere. We're out on our own, as minority, ready to be abused and sacrificed should the need arise. All of us are subject to the violation of the Penal Code (actually a lot of the straight people are too, for oral sex) and of course, this will not be imposed on us if we're not politicians or someone of a threat to the government.

All this shit really makes me wonder.. how can our conservative society accepts Chua Soi Lek, a married man who had extra marital affairs back to politics while they cannot accept the fact that a man is free to choose who he loves irregardless of gender?

Acceptance and tolerance works the same way for each individual. Can you accept someone who's a different skin color than you? What about education level? Religion? Occupation?

Then why can't the same be applied to sexuality?

And that's my food for thought for today.

Cheers
Robb