World Wide Wave

16 Dec 2013

Malaysia: Quite moderate if private is private

Asia/Pacific

This week, W3JOY learned not to assume the worst. Jonathan from Malaysia teaches us to “be positive who you are, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

Jonathan  grew up in a small city in Malaysia. It’s very hard for people to establish a gay scene outside of KL, so Jonathan moved to Kuala Lumpur (KL), “I was in my early 20s and I went to a gay club by myself…it was very frightening…it was also a Tuesday, it was very quiet that night.”

But he is adamant that Malaysia is accepting. “Compared to other countries in the Middle East, Malaysia is actually quite moderate. As long as you keep your private life private.”

His cousins asked him if he was gay, and he hasn’t denied his sexuality, “I’m not sure how my family is going to react, I’m not sure how they are going to accept my homosexuality. I’m afraid of rejection.”

But he has role models, “Some of my friends have come out recently, and they have been surprised by how their parents have reacted. It was actually quite positive. Their families are Catholic, and it gave me courage to come out to my family sometime in the future.”

“I just want to be true to myself. I’ve been here for a long time, and I accept it, who I am. It’s just a matter of time before I come out to my family.”

Jonathan is more aware of the pressures on transgenders.

“From my point of view, it’s not too hard to be gay or lesbian in KL, it’s harder to be transgender…it’s hard for them to find work, a lot of them turn into sex workers.”

Find out more on W3JOY’s Malaysia webpage.

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