PAS Muslimat wing wants transwoman Rania replaced with ‘ex-transgender’ rep

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — The appointment of transwoman Rania Zara Medina onto a national committee under the Health Ministry is a symbol of recognition by the government of the community and must be revoked, said PAS.

Its Muslimat chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh said that Rania has no business being on the committee for Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) Malaysia and questioned how the appointment could happen in the first place.

“How will Rania, as a transgender, be able to give her views on handing the HIV/AIDS disease when one of the main causes of the disease is same-sex relations? Will her involvement on this committee help? What is the purpose of her being on the CCM?,” asked Nuridah in a statement here today.

She said that the CCM was funded by international Global Fund which openly supports the LGBT community and urged the Health Ministry and the committee to reconsider her appointment and appoint an ex-transgender instead for the role.

“We propose that the representative comes from the ex-transgender group who have gone through a positive phase and returned to fitrah (the original path),” she said, while calling on all NGOs to unite on this matter.

“The promotion of gender equality is not the culture here in Malaysia. We support the stand made by deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah who has objected to the LGBT agenda and urged any agenda for the normalisation of LGBT to stop because it contradicts our religion and constitution,” she said.

She said this group of people needed to be treated, and even more so those are already struck by the virus and epidemic.

Despite her remark, transgenderism or gender identity dysmorphia is widely recognised as a life-long medical condition with no discernible “cure”.

Any attempt of conversion therapy against the LGBT is seen by medical and scientific community as potentially harmful and a form of pseudoscience.

The appointment of Rania, believed to be the first transwoman to be appointed in the national committee under the Health Ministry, went viral on social media recently and has caused controversy.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said Rania’s appointment as a member of CCM was based on existing procedure that all 25 members represent different stakeholders, such as government and non-governmental agencies, academics and community representatives from the target population which includes transgenders, men who have sex with men, female sex workers, people who use drugs, and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Rania’s appointment went viral on social media after she posted her letter of appointment, signed by Dr Lee, on Facebook.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he was not aware Rania was transgender.