Religious Left

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Agence France-Presse Inquirer.net KUALA LUMPUR--Islamic officials in Malaysia detained 16 transvestites for taking part in a beauty pageant, according to a newspaper report here Sunday. The participants were held as they contested the "Miss Universe Asia 2008" title at a resort hotel in the northeastern state of Kelantan, which is ruled by the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), the New Sunday Times said. The PAS wants to turn Malaysia into a theocratic state under Islamic rule, and has made headlines for ordering fines for women wearing skimpy clothes and stricter enforcement of laws on separate male and female queues in shops. Mohamad Abdul Aziz, chief assistant director of enforcement in the state, told the paper that 16 people aged between 20 and 30 were detained. Mohamad said action would be taken against the transvestites under Islamic Sharia law "for dressing and acting like a woman." They could be fined or jailed for six months if found guilty, he said. full a...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia : Police in Malaysia, where sodomy is a crime, broke up a gay sex party and arrested 37 men , including a Briton and a Chinese national, a senior official said Tuesday. Police, acting on a public tip-off, raided a fitness center in northern Penang island Sunday while a sex party was in progress and arrested the 37 men, aged between 20 and 45, said local police chief Azam Abdul Hamid. Homosexuality is not specified as a crime in predominantly Muslim Malaysia but it is covered under a law prohibiting sodomy, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and whipping/caning.