Saturday April 7, 2012

Rais: No ban on gay portrayals

PETALING JAYA: There is no ban against the portrayal of gay characters or effeminate men on television or radio.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim took to Twitter to deny an online news portal claiming such a ban.

“There is no ban on any artistic performance by any segment of society including those (termed) as soft men.

“My ministry, however, reserves the right to select content suitable for the general public as Malaysia is a multi-racial, religious and cultural country,” he tweeted.

In MALACCA, Rais said Malaysians had the right to showcase their talents through the platform provided in the entertainment fraternity.

“Such rights are enshrined in our Constitution and no quarters should attempt to prevent anyone who wants to be featured in television programmes from doing so,” he after a 1Malaysia programme.

The Information Department had posted on their Facebook page on Thursday what appeared to be a “directive” banning such characters on TV and radio.

“Effective immediately, radio and TV stations are asked to stop screening shows which feature gay, effeminate men as well as characters that go against the norm of a religious society because this encourages and promote LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual),” it said.

However, the department posted another message on its Facebook page saying that the message was merely a “discussion topic” on Bernama Radio 24 and that the message was lifted from the radio station's Facebook page.

It also apologised if there had been any confusion arising from this.

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