Dewan Rakyat has announced that films and drama series with scenes or elements that seem to be promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) content will not be approved for public viewing – unless they contain important cautionary lessons.
Deputy Home Minister Mohd Azis Jamman said this was based on the guidelines set by the Film Censorship Board (LPF), which falls under the ministry’s purview. Thus, films that deemed promoting deviant lifestyles at their very core will not be approved, including films with gangsterism themes.
Di Dewan Rakyat hari ini, saya menjawab berhubung langkah-langkah diambil kerajaan untuk menyekat unsur-unsur budaya songsang seperti LGBT dalam penerbitan filem dan drama di Malaysia. @FriendsOfKDN https://t.co/AkARVmf9yX pic.twitter.com/l6LQXt0NH4
— Datuk Azis Jamman ©image (@AzisJamman) December 10, 2018
“We view this matter seriously. The Home Ministry is quite strict on film releases (in Malaysia),” he said during a Q&A session in Dewan Rakyat yesterday as quoted by NST.
“When a film (with elements of gangsterism or LGBT) is approved, it should come with a lesson,” he said, adding the ministry based its ruling on fatwa and guidelines issued by the religious authorities from time to time.
The question came from Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PH-PKR-Kapar) who asked on steps taken by the government to ensure that youth audience in the country were not influenced by the LGBT and gangsterism elements in films.
“In some films, we do not deny there are ‘mak nyah’ (transgenders) characters. However, these films make a strong (cautionary) lessons on such characters. We approve these films as there are lessons to be learnt,” he added.
Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman also said that the government would not hesitate to ban films that promote LGBT explicitly.
