Malaysian politician blames earthquake on god’s wrath for LGBT ‘activities’

A leading Malaysian politician has blamed LGBT+ people for a earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia last month.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, leader of Malaysia’s main opposition party United Malays National Organisation, condemned LGBT+ people and linked their “activities” to divine retribution over the magnitude 7.5 quake that devastated the city of Palu, Donggala and Mamuju and killed more than 2,000 people.

“We look at the situation in Malaysia, we are worried because we know what happened in Palu recently where there was an earthquake and tsunami. It was reported that there were more than 1,000 members of their community who were involved in such [LGBT] activities,” he said, according to a translation in Malay Mail.

“As a result the entire area was destroyed. This is the punishment of Allah. My question is whether the Malaysian Islamic Development Department’s programmes [to rehabilitate the LGBT] are successful because data shows that in the middle of the year more than 1,000 [LGBT] joined these programmes.

“We need to ensure that Malaysia and those who are against LGBT are spared Allah’s punishment.”

People walk past covered dead bodies a day after an earthquake and a tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018. (OLA GONDRONK/AFP/Getty Images)Malaysia has a poor record on LGBT+ rights, where homosexual activity remains illegal ever since a ban on sodomy was introduced under British colonial rule.

In 1994, the government also made it illegal for LGBT+ people to make appearances in the state-controlled media.

A man walks along a destroyed road in Palu, which was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)