Malaysia government officially changes term 'LGBT' to 'deviant culture'https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/06/23/malaysia-lgbt-term-change-deviant-culture/ 🔗Poppy-Jay St. Palmer (23 June 2026)
Malaysia's government is set to stop using the term "LGBT" in favour of the Malay term "budaya songsang", which translates as "deviant culture". The news was shared by a government official this week.
In February this year, Marhamah Rosli, the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), said that replacing "LGBT" with something else will influence online algorithms from showing LGBTQ+ content in the country, and therefore prevent the "normalisation" of queer culture.
Speaking during a Parliament session, she said: "The more we utter, write, or state ['LGBT'], the more 'pop-out' content related to it will appear. Without realising it, we are promoting the culture unknowingly."
Malaysia has a Muslim-majority population, but the country is not as strict as others in its approach to Islamic laws. However, Malaysian LGBTQ+ people have long faced harsh persecution.
Male-male and male-female anal sex is criminalised by federal law, and can result in 20 years imprisonment with caning, fines and deportation. In State Shariah law, both gay and lesbian sex are illegal for Muslims in all states and federal territories, except Pahang.
The country holds no protections, such as anti-discrimination laws or the right to change one's legal gender, for LGBTQ+ people.
