Senior officials in Malaysia are considering a ban on transgender and gender non-conforming people entering mosques.
The move would mirror a similar ban that was implemented in the country’s northern state of Perlis in June 2021.
According to local news outlet Free Malaysia Today, the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, praised the action taken by Perlis.
He is reported to have said the ban protects the sanctity of mosques, as well as preventing confusion within the Muslim community.
On 24 September, Shaary told reporters: “I am speaking in the context of the federal territories because that is within our jurisdiction. As for other states, it’s up to their respective religious authorities.
“If we want to encourage other states to follow what is being done in Perlis, we have to look at the seriousness of the cases that occur.”
Despite this, he later admitted in the same interview that his department had not received any reports on trans people “intruding” mosques.
He continued: “For me, what Perlis is doing is something that states can follow, because it is very inappropriate for a man to enter a mosque wearing a headscarf. If a man enters the women’s section, it will disrupt the women’s privacy.
“But if they go to repent, then it’s okay.”
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