The Malaysian government is offering cash prizes for people to create videos that explain how to prevent being homosexual or transgender.

A competition on the Malaysia Health Department’s website offers people aged between 13 and 24 the chance to win $1000 – $4000 ringgit (AUD $235 – $940).

The overall theme of the video contest is “Value Yourself, Healthy Lifestyle Practice.” and the short video clips need to focus on “prevention, control and how to get help” as well as “issues and consequences”.

The competition has three categories, ‘gender confusion’, ‘sex’ and ‘sex and the internet’. The site describes gender confusion as being transgender people, gays, lesbians and tomboys.

LGBT rights activists in Malaysia have expressed their shock at the competition.

“I was shocked. This is encouraging discrimination, hatred and even violence towards the minorities,” transgender activist Nisha Ayub from the Seed Foundation, a charity working with transgender people, told Britain’s The Telegraph.

“The very fact that they lump LGBT people under a category called ‘gender confusion’ shows that the authorities are very much confused themselves,” Pang Khee Teik, a well-known local activist, told AFP.

Prominent lawyer-activist Siti Kasim told Free Malaysia Today if the government does not check on religious extremism, Malaysia will follow a similar path to their neighbours in Indonesia where there has been a crack-down on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

“This is the trend I see in Malaysia. And if our government does not clamp down on these power-crazy religious maniacs, our country will go down that road,” the activist said.

OIP Staff