Rights and the Proportionality of Punishments on Homosexual Relations in Malaysia

Abstract

The protection of the human rights of LGBTQ+ people is a relatively new topic in international human rights law in this digital era. Over the years, in the context of sexual acts against the order of nature and emerging Islamic practice, engaging in homosexual behaviour is considered a crime punishable under the law, whereby people in the LGBTQ+ were being discriminated against and attacked by the community. Hence, with the calls for gender equality and human rights, this paper focuses on the debate about human rights in homosexual relations, which is gay or lesbian. The research methodology adopted is doctrinal legal research. This paper intends to examine the existence of equal rights given to the homosexual community, and the proportionality of punishments for homosexuality in Malaysia from the secular civil law and Islamic Law perspectives. Besides, a comparison is made between Malaysia and some other selected Asian countries from the psychological view and health conditions with recommendations to protect the rights of this group as a conclusion.