The Women’s March held in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu on Saturday 9 August 2019 had eight demands, ranging from a minimum wage of RM1,800 to dismantling the patriarchy. Many marchers also signalled their support for the rights of those identifying as LGBTIQ, through banners, through rainbow flags and other signs of support.
The Centre for Independent Journalism is astonished that rather than report on the demands of the march itself, or representation of the varied demands being made by participants, two of the major Malay-language newspapers demonised the march, claiming that it was culturally inappropriate to raise the issue of fundamental human rights for the LGBTIQ-identifying community.
The sensational manner in which Utusan Malaysia and Sinar Harian reported the march, their demonisation of the LGBTIQ community and their allies, have led to an online threats, against the LGBTIQ community and the march organisers. The reporting could have mentioned how organisers ensured that people with disabilities were included through signing speeches and other measures; they could have drawn attention to the call for improved child and maternal health care in rural areas; they could have drawn attention to the overwhelming rejection of child marriage, yet none of these were mentioned in the coverage. In doing so, they were neglecting their duty of fair reporting, and appear to have been deliberately inciting hatred of an already marginalised community. Fair reporting would have included the participation of and support for the LGBT, but not have focussed on or sensationalised this aspect of the march.
At present, the government is said to be examining amendment to hate speech laws. Any such amendment should prioritise the rights of vulnerable minorities, rather than protecting the rights of those who are already privileged in society. The response to the voicing up of demands for equality by the LGBT community and its allies is a clear test of the Pakatan Harapan government’s commitment to freedom of expression.
