🇲🇾 'I know all too well that things are likely to get worse'

Hello friends!

Today we have a very special update from friend of the letter, Deborah Germaine Augustin. She has taken a look at the Halloween raid on an LGBT community party in Kuala Lumpur last weekend and put it into the political context. This piece is moving, enraging and, ultimately, very hopeful.

Please help Dari Mulut ke Mulut support all of our LGBT friends in Malaysia and in the region by sharing this piece far and wide.

Paid subscriptions make reaching out to and commissioning talented friends around the region possible. Please consider upgrading today to support more fantastic work and thank you to everyone who already has.

Thank you so much to Deborah,

Erin Cook

Queer People are Always the Black Sheep of Keluarga Malaysia

Deborah Germaine Augustin

Nations like to adopt the family as a metaphor. In a multi-ethnic and religious country like Malaysia, the idea of the country as a family is supposed to evoke love and care despite our differences. We can be kindred if not exactly kin. I assume that it was with these ideals in mind that the government under Ismail Sabri launched the Keluarga Malaysia or Malaysian Family slogan. I am reminded of it when I go out from billboards with snapshots of Malaysians of different ethnicities or Ismail Sabri benevolently gazing at a group of children. 

But the family has a dark underbelly and queer Malaysians understand all too well the violent potential of the family. Some of us can never be out to our biological families. Others have to leave their families of origin to be ourselves. And still, others have suffered violence at the hands of their families because of their queerness. At the same time, we understand the need for it. It’s why being queer is sometimes referred to as ‘being in the family,’ or the term ‘rainbow family’ is used for the community. We want love and care just like everyone else. Instead, we’re told to hide and not glamourise ourselves. 

This past week, we were reminded that we’re not safe even in the privacy of our own spaces. On 29 October, a private Halloween party with drag acts as the highlight of the night was raided by the Kuala Lumpur religious authorities (JAWI), police and enforcement officers from the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL). Accounts from partygoers state that the crowd was separated into non-Muslim and Muslim, as Muslims in Malaysia are subject to state shariah laws. 

After two hours, 20 people were detained and questioned by JAWI. People on the scene say that the authorities targeted those who appeared gender non-conforming and even arrested men for wearing earrings. On social media, there are accounts of Malaysian Indians being profiled and women who allege the officers sexually harassed them during the raid. Everyone is still traumatised. 

Even though I wasn’t there, the night has weighed on me. I know all too well that things are likely to get worse. We are two weeks away from a General Election and many see last Saturday’s raid as show of force by the caretaker government to appeal to their conservative base. To date, the only political party that came to the community’s defence was Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM). Members of PSM were at the scene to mobilise legal help once distress calls were sent out. On 30 October, Pemuda Sosialis, the youth wing of PSM tweeted its support for the LGBTQ+ community. Later that day, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition officially told PSM it rejected any electoral pact with the socialist party. Many are speculating that PSM’s public support of the queer community is the reason for the last-minute rejection. 

It’s sadly unsurprising. While PH may seem like a more progressive coalition, especially in contrast to Malay ethnonationalist parties, it has a poor track record on queer issues. When I returned to Malaysia in 2018, I was optimistic about the Malaysia Baru (New Malaysia) that PH promised to bring about. I was quickly disappointed. In the early months of its administration, PH was eager to quash any idea that they supported the LGBT community. At the time, it felt like the only thing being discussed in Parliament was the contagion of queerness. Then on 18 August 2018, Blue Boy, a famous gay club in Kuala Lumpur was raided. In an eerie parallel to last week’s events, 20 men were arrested and made to attend counselling. Khalid Samad, the Federal Territories Minister at the time, encouraged the public to complain about gay clubs to facilitate further raids. 

So who are we to depend on? The answer is clearly not politicians. Voting will not save us. As I look for the answers, I return to a video from that night. Someone at the party captured the moment the 20 people were being led away from their community. The crowd is clapping and cheering in solidarity, and one brave queen waves and sashays out. I hold onto this moment when the sadness gets too heavy and it dissipates just a little. I think the answer is us. I want no part of the dysfunctional family wrought by these unelected men who grip power. But the love I saw people show each other that night is a glimpse into the beauty of the one I already have.