Malaysian Cops Crack Down on Gay Life

Police in Penang, Malaysia staged a raid on a fitness center, rounding up over a dozen men and arresting them for alleged homosexual activity.

The story appeared in the May 12 online edition of The Star.

The article reported that the police raid took place early on the morning of May 10, leading to the discovery, according to authorities, of six completely undressed men in the restroom, with the other men rousted from elsewhere in the building.

The police also said that they had confiscated a large number of condoms, and that, in the words of an assistant police commander, Azam Abd Hamid, "We also found used condoms littered all over the place."

The article cited Hamid as saying that 14 men were arrested at the center and had been detained as an investigation into sexual activity at the fitness center continued.

The men were all between the ages of 20 and 30, according to the Star article.

Said Hamid, "This was the third time the center was raided since last November."

Hamid added that the police would be advocating that the fitness center be shuttered.

The article recounted that one of the earlier police raids took place last Nov. 5, when an alleged sex party was in progress at the center. At that time, 34 men were arrested, including one man from the U.K., the Star article said.

The raids have been part of a police effort, dubbed "Operation Rose," which has targeted certain areas of town where gay men and transvestites congregate.

It is illegal to be gay in Malaysia, with men arrested for being gay subject to hard time in jail and fines.

Some gay Malaysians react to their plight by seeking asylum abroad in places such as Canada, where gay refugees from a number of countries that criminalize their sexuality have begun to gravitate in recent years.

However, despite the promise of a life free from anti-gay persecution in Canada, some asylum seekers still find themselves confronted by prejudice and ignorance.

In a Mar. 5 article the Calgary Herald detailed how gay asylum seekers are sometimes deported despite the near certainty that once back in their home countries, they will be arrested and jailed for their sexual identities.

Part of the problem stems from officials charged with deciding who will be granted refugee status and who will be shipped back. Such officials may not know, or care to know, the dangers faced by gays and lesbians in countries such as Iran and Malaysia.

The Calgary Sun article quoted the co-president of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender commission of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Matthew McLauchlin, who said, "There have been women told they couldn't be lesbian because they have long hair and showed up for the interviews in high heels."

Said McLauchlin of the government functionaries who make such decisions, "These people have no training whatsoever in how to deal with these issues."