KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian doctor practising in Australia drew flak after condemning a patient for being a transgender man on social media.
Dr Shaiful Aizad, former president of the Australian branch of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia had initially thought of his patient as a man but was later baffled when the CT scan showed that the patient had a uterus.
Only then did he realise that the patient is a transgender man.
“I never expected to face a case like this. On the outside, he really looks like a man, even his voice, appearance and body hair.
“What is so wrong with being a woman?” asked Dr Shaiful in his Facebook post, which has since been deleted.
He went on to ask if having monthly periods was the cause of him (the patient) wanting to become a man.
“Before this, such issues were classified as mental conditions. Now it is their own choice. Doctors can be detained for trying to revert them or diagnosing them with other mental illnesses,” he said.
He also said that he had met female patients with extra testosterone in their bodies, but they had never declared their intentions to become men.
Other questions posed by Dr Shaiful included those of personal nature, about the patient’s marital status, work, relationships, before finally ending with: “What made you decide to become a man?”
The patient apparently replied that he had always wanted to be a man, causing the doctor to feel “weird”.
“If people wanted to live without religion, or choose not to follow a religion, this is what happens. They choose to defy logic as they wish,” said Dr Shaiful.
The post had garnered 375 reactions, 394 comments and 82 shares.
He deleted the post not too long after he uploaded it as a result of netizens slamming his remarks and calling for the Australian Medical Association to revoke his licence.
He said the decision to delete his post was to avoid debates.
Attempts by The Vibes to contact the doctor is ongoing.
Inadvertently, Malaysia is once again in the limelight for attacking the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Yesterday, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary said the government was mulling harsher laws against LGBT folk.
This included amending the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or Act 355, to provide for harsher punishments for the LGBT community. – The Vibes, January 20, 2021
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