On Thursday, July 17, police in Malaysia reported that they had arrested 20 men last month in a raid of a “gay party” taking place in Kelantan, a northeastern state of the country.

The force reported they had received tips about a “gay party” that had been promoted through social media and was supposed to have at least 100 local men in attendance. The party was supposed to last until the morning; however, when police raided the property, there were only 20 men present.

Though all men were fully dressed, police suspected that attendants were allowed to have sex after finding boxes of condoms and HIV medications. All of those arrested admitted to being part of a gay group; however, only three of the men were prosecuted after images of homosexual pornography were found on their phones. 

The other 17 men were not prosecuted as police did not find any physical evidence or specific laws to charge them with. Following the “gay party”, police stated in a press conference that they were going to continue to monitor the movement of LGBTQ+ groups in Malaysia, as the police chief believed they were getting more “active and bold”. 

In Malaysia, being gay and being trans are both considered crimes. According to the Human Dignity Trust, sentences include 20 years in prison with whipping. Sodomy laws are applied to both men and women, and convictions became more frequent after the 2018 election, which resulted in a conservative Islamic party holding the majority in government. While in the past, the Prime Minister of Malaysia had expressed tolerance towards the LGBTQ+ community, the influence of the Islamic party persuaded him to take less progressive stances.

There have been multiple reports of crackdowns on the queer community in Malaysia, one including a lesbian couple who were caned in a courtroom after being convicted of attempting to have sex. In 2021, a prominent trans woman in the country was forced to flee after receiving threats of arrest.

There was also an attempt at a public forum to discuss LGBTQ+ issues that was indefinitely postponed in late May after organisers received threats online and criticism from the government, according to The New York Times. Organisers defended the event, stating it was an effort to curb the spread of sexually transmitted infections in the community while also discussing the reality of being part of the queer community in the country.

Outside groups have gotten into trouble with the Malaysian government regarding queer rights, most notably when The 1975 was sued for a same-sex kiss between band members during a music festival.

Public opinion of the queer community is mostly negative. A study released in the International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences found that many LGBTQ+ people only felt safe disclosing their gender identity and sexuality to friends and family. 

Despite this, there has been a recent step towards equality in Malaysia. In February of last year, the federal court declared that a law criminalising sodomy was unconstitutional because it applied religious offences that the state was not allowed to legislate, according to the Human Dignity Trust.