I have heard some half-baked warnings about extortion of gay men in Malaysia, where sex between males is illegal, and this is a call for specific information. If you know, could you please respond to this post?
At Utopia-Asia info on some Malaysian crusing spots says “beware of decoys”, but nothing more. Who are the decoys? How does the blackmail work? Is it about getting caught for having sex in public or is it in private too?
One reader wrote in a comment that he knew several gay foreigners who had been blackmailed for money in Malaysia. By who? How?
Tags: blackmail, extortion, gay, Malaysia
This entry was posted
on Saturday, September 29th, 2007 at 1:50 am and is filed under Diary, Warning.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 30th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Spartacus (gay worldwide guide) says ‘ Malasia stands under heavy influence of Islam & homosexuality is illegal - with a punishment for homosexual acts (or…l or an…l) of up to 20 years imprisonment along with public beatings. As a foreigner you need not fear these drastic measures’
Well all that being said (apart from the public beatings [if you are into that]) I would be extra cautious.
P.S. Thanx for the gr8t blog - I love visiting Thailand - boys/men are so…..:)
October 1st, 2007 at 7:34 am
A reader wrote this by email:
- What we know, and how we feel, about cruising in Thailand should not be extended to other countries in Asia.
- Malaysia has two sets of laws: civil law and Islamic law. The Islamic laws only apply to Islamic citizens. Being gay is not illegal under civil law but is illegal under Islamic law. Non-Muslim foreigners cannot be arrested merely for being gay, and are generally not prosecuted for private acts.
- However, committing or even soliciting homosexual acts in public places (parks, toilets, etc.) is illegal under both sets of law, as they are in most countries, including Thailand.
Long (slightly dated ?) article here:
http://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=270&Itemid=135