PUTRAJAYA – Gender-wise Nur Sajat or Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruz Zaman is still a male, as stated on her identity card (IC), says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary.
He said, in Malaysia, the gender of every individual is based on the information stated on their IC.
“His gender is what is stated on the IC (issued) in our country and that is what we use.
“The identity card is a valid document in this country to determine his (Nur Sajat’s) gender whichever country or place he chooses to determine his gender, we do not interfere,” he said to reporters after launching a book titled “Manual Komuniti Hijrah” (Lesbians and Gays) here today.
Yesterday, the media reported that Nur Sajat shared a post on her Instagram saying that she had legally changed her gender status to female in Australia.
She is being pursued by authorities in Malaysia after an arrest warrant was issued following her failure to appear in court to face charges for dressing as a woman at the Shah Alam shariah high court.
In June last year, police sought Nur Sajat to help in an investigation into a fraud case involving a change of identity card information at the Ampang Jaya court.
On the high court decision lifting the ban on the distribution of the controversial book “Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective” in the country yesterday, Marzuk said he hoped the Home Ministry would appeal the decision so that it does not outrage Muslims.
“LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and the book should not be an agenda to be normalised in our country, it is not suitable in Malaysia and around the world,” he said.
According to media reports, the publisher and author of “Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective” succeeded in their application to overturn the home minister’s order banning the book in 2020.
High court judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin allowed a judicial review filed by the book’s publisher Chong Ton Sin and its author Ngeo Boon Lin, respectively, yesterday. – Bernama, February 23, 2022
