Negeri Sembilan govt to appeal against cross-dressing ruling

KUALA LUMPUR — The jubilation felt by Malaysia’s transgender community may be short-lived as the Negeri Sembilan state government confirmed it will appeal against the landmark Court of Appeal judgment declaring unconstitutional its state Islamic law criminalising cross-dressing.

Probably buoyed by support from conservative Muslims, the Negri Sembilan State Islamic Council (MAINS) said it will soon file its application to challenge the judgment on Section 66 of the Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992, but gave no indication on the date.

“At the moment, the date has not been set. We will go ahead with the appeal only when we are ready,” MAINS secretary Kamal Amran Kamarudin was quoted by Malay daily Sinar Harian as saying in its report yesterday.

Several conservative Muslim clerics have criticised the ruling by the country’s appellate court, arguing that the decision strayed from legal precedents set by the Federal Court and creating a disturbing proviso that threatens the identity and core of their faith.

Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria called the judgment a challenge to God’s laws as it permitted that which is forbidden to Muslims, and warned that it would open the door to greater sinful acts, which will draw down God’s wrath in the form of disasters.

The senior Islamic cleric further warned that such a judgment will open the doors for anyone to freely commit sin, but added that society will ultimately pay the price when disaster strikes.

“The Prophet’s hadith (Prophet Muhammad’s sayings) says men who resemble women and women who resemble men are cursed by Allah. The Court of Appeal’s action can be likened to permitting that which is forbidden and creating confusion among Muslims”, he said in remarks published by the Malay broadsheet Mingguan Malaysia.

The three-judge panel in the country’s second-highest court had unanimously ruled that Section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Syariah law criminalising cross-dressing was discriminatory and unconstitutional as it violates an individual’s right to freedom of expression.

The Islamic law had been used by the state in cracking down on its Muslim transgender community and many hope the victory will help advocates of fundamental liberties amid growing unease over the creep of religious conservatism in government.

“A semblance of sanity has returned with this judgment,” said Ms Ambiga Sreenevasan, a lawyer and the former head of the Malaysian Bar Council, who was in the courtroom for the decision on Friday in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

“The words ‘human dignity’ were repeated many times in the judgment,” she said. “It brings us back to fundamental liberties.”

Although lawyers described Friday’s decision as a landmark judgment, it was also limited, according to Mr Fahri Azzat, a lawyer representing the three hairdressers who had brought the case.

The judgment is subject to appeal and is applicable only to Negeri Sembilan. Similar bans in other Malaysian states remain intact, Mr Fahri said. AGENCIES