KUALA LUMPUR – A speech by a local public university senior lecturer during a National World AIDS Day programme has provoked the ire of advocacy groups after he allegedly made homophobic comments against people living with HIV and the LGBT community.
The speaker, Assoc Prof Datuk Izhar Ariff Mohd Kashim from the Faculty of Religious Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, was alleged to have made the disparaging remarks at this morning’s event at Kompleks Belia dan Sukan Paroi, Seremban organised by the Health Ministry.
In a programme itinerary sighted by The Vibes, Izhar, who is also a religious preacher, was scheduled to speak on the role of society in combating HIV and AIDS, and was allocated the 9.30am to 10.30am slot.
According to a message making rounds on social media, Izhar had allegedly told the transgender community to repent, that being an LGBT individual is a mental disorder and is the root cause of HIV, and that people in a “normal” relationship would not contract the infection.
In a joint statement this evening, the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) and Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) expressed their utter disappointment over the public commentary, which they noted had used discriminatory language that reinforces homophobic stereotypes.
“MAC and MAF have always valued partnerships including with religious leaders. It was unfortunate that the speaker chose to make disparaging and hurtful remarks towards people living with HIV, the LGBT community, and other key populations.
“This was even more inappropriate given that this was a World AIDS Day celebration.”
The groups also claimed that they had raised their concerns before the programme and were reassured that the speaker had been briefed not to make any discriminatory remarks.
MAC said it filed an official complaint to the Health Ministry and the Negri Sembilan Health Department to respond to the incident.
The Vibes has reached out to Izhar for clarification and comment and is awaiting his response.
MAF chairman Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman took to Twitter to slam Izhar over his purported remarks while accusing him of spreading false information about how HIV and AIDS can be transmitted.
“If you can’t be compassionate, at the very least you can try and not be so bigoted and hurtful at a World AIDS Day event,” she said in a series of posts.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why many so-called Islamic leaders in Malaysia, whether in politics or academia or NGO, practise the language of hate and ‘othering’ rather than treating everyone with compassion and dignity.
“Yours (Izhar) is not the Islam I know and practice.”
This is not the first time Izhar has made such transphobic comments. There are past videos of him giving religious ceramah similarly disparaging the LGBT community, while he has also made Facebook posts of similar nature.
In a separate statement by Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s gender bureau head Ahmad Yasin earlier today, he questioned the Health Ministry’s decision to invite the controversial figure to speak on World AIDS Day despite him consistently advocating against the health and well-being of LGBT persons.
“His consistent and extreme views are contrary to this year’s World AIDS Day theme, Equalize, which aims to address the inequalities holding back progress in ending the disease.
“As such, having a speaker who openly espoused transphobic views is not only harmful and counterproductive to the 2030 goal to end AIDS, but it is also against the very spirit of World AIDS Day.
“By giving him a platform, the Health Ministry has created an unsafe space and further increased trust deficit towards government medical institutions among the LGBT population.”
Pursuant to this, Yasin urged the organisers to ensure proper vetting of speakers and that their views are consistent with the global goal to end AIDS. – The Vibes, December 1, 2022
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