“Seksualiti Merdeka” is not freedom of sexuality

The nation was abuzz several months ago with the provocative attempts of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) activists in holding a festival celebrating their deviance of homosexuality via a programme called “Sexualiti Merdeka” (Freedom of Sexuality). Scheduled to be held at The Annexe in Kuala Lumpur on November 11th, the event was eventually cancelled by the organisers after the police announced a blanket ban on any activity promoting or related to the event, as it will be held without a permit. This caused an outcry from the organisers and their supporters, claiming that the event is not an attempt of promoting homosexuality among the masses.

While I disagree with the majority of reporting done by the local news media which portrayed the event as a “free sex” festival, I do oppose any organising of — or even the attempt to organise — such events which clearly promotes such deviant sexuality against the order of human nature.Note that I have stated “human” here, because to argue that homosexuality is not from nature is not accurate from a scientific perspective. There have been cases of homosexual activity in animal and non-human species, which, although not conclusive, may be used as an argument to endorse homosexuality instead of rejecting it totally as something totally unnatural to mankind. To me, homosexuality is a psychological disease in the human mind which should not be “celebrated” as something natural. After all, would someone organise a programme called “Freedom of Rape”? Or a festival celebrating the right of an individual to steal and murder others? Even the slogan of the festival itself, i.e. “Queer Without Fear” is contradictory in itself. So they have admitted that they are “queer” (as in alien from the rest of society) and yet they believe that they have the moral right to tell others to be as “queer” as they are? What sort of message does this bring to the heterosexual population (which, I believe, is still a large majority in Malaysia)?

From the religious perspective, homosexuality is without a doubt morally condemned in Islam and it is considered a heinous sin. In fact we are told of the story of Lot (PBUH), and his people who were active homosexuals and how Lot (PBUH) had preached to his people to turn away from this sin. In the end, his people would not repent and God Almighty destroyed the people of Lot for their crime and deviant lifestyle. To cut down to the chase, there is certainly no justification for legalising homosexuality from either a religious or societal perspective. Furthermore, from a scientific perspective there are organisations such as NARTH which have successfully treated homosexuals of their sexual orientation. This would not have been possible had homosexuality been a natural inclination and exists at a genetic level — instead of being a psychological disease which only exists in the human mind.

In conclusion, I see homosexuality no differently from other psychological disorder diseases such as dementia or schizophrenia. The ones who are being “queer without fear” are implicitly admitting to themselves that they have serious psychological issues.