After a viral video appeared to show a homophobic attack on two men in Malaysia, the PELANGI Campaign for Equality and Human Rights Initiative begged Malaysian authorities to take action.
In the video, which has been viewed on Facebook more than 88,000 times, a mob surrounds a car as the two men inside scramble to get dressed. The suspects then “proceed to assault the victims physically” and call the men “embarrassments,” according to Malay Mail.
Related: Straight couple savagely attacks gay tourists because they were wearing Speedos on a boat
“THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!” PELANGI president Numan Afifi tweeted in response to the footage. “I categorically condemn this anti-gay violence and call on the authority to investigate on this hate crime. Enough is enough.”
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In a subsequent tweet, Afifi wrote: “If you know any gay friends, go hug or fist-bump them today, hold their hands tight and let them know that they are loved. Tell them that you’ll stand with them as we embrace the end of 2018 that is still homophobic.”
Related: This gay couple was harassed by their neighbors for years. Then they were brutally attacked.
A British colonial-era law makes homosexuality illegal in Malaysia, and violence against individuals across the LGBT spectrum in the country has made headlines in recent months and years. A trans woman was beaten by a group of assailants in August and suffered broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and head injuries in the attack. In June 2017, a teen died after he was beaten, burnt, and raped in an alleged homophobic attack.
So far, there’s been no word about the condition of the two men victimized in this latest beating.
Kangol
British colonialism’s toxic legacy strikes again! Also, Malaysia is the country where a notorious Prime Minister oversaw the charges against the deputy PM of committing sodomy, which then led to his imprisonment. Then the imprisoned leader left the main party, his conviction was overturned and he was released from jail, returned to politics, and was then accused again of assaulting a male aide, was convicted, sought the overturning of his sentence, and was finally pardoned. He is now back in Malaysia’s Parliament. Meanwhile, the same horrible leader who’d ousted him years ago is again Prime Minister.
Beyonduk
What a moronic statement. Blane the British! Of course you would, it’s not like they have had over 60 years independent of British rule to pass a few laws here and there. In 1957 when the British left Malaysia the Wolfenden Report was published recommending that homosexuality to no longer be considered a crime. It took us another 10 years to get the first law passed but we got there. Malaysia has had plenty of time to repeal the ‘toxic legacy’ of the British, in fact they have had exactly the same time as the British.
Kangol
Whine all you want, but the fact remains, Britain unleashed the menace of legalized homophobia ALL OVER THE GLOBE. It’s your country’s history, so own it!
Chrisk
@Kangol. We get it. You think their children incapable of being bigoted on their own. Tired of the British being blamed for every homophobic shit hole in the world today. It just excuses their hate.
The British didn’t give them the Islam either. We all know Islam isn’t the most compatible with human rights.
HereIAm
Kangol, why do you as a rational human being hate the British so much? It is a fact that the British had anti-gay laws for over a century but so did Muslim countries and China and the rest of the world at the time. You also refuse to acknowledge the fact that former colonial countries such as India and Malaysia have had their independence over 6 decades, that’s close to 70 years! What was their excuse for not abolishing the anti-gay laws? The truth is, these governments have never been against them so given the ample time they have had, they have chosen not to do a thing. That you can’t blame the British for.
GetOffMyInternets
HereIAm was probably the one who rounded up the crowd.
Michael-PHL
Can’t this site get rid of the manclub69 poster? It’s annoying spam!
Chrisk
Before this they promoted a site called daddybear. It’s the same Chinese spammers. It was a site for how to meet wealthy daddies.