In the weeks since a Nov. 28 police raid on men-only venues in Kuala Lumpur, queer activists in Malaysia say they have stepped up efforts to coordinate legal assistance for people detained under state Shariah laws. 

Justice for Sisters, Pelangi, and other groups have been providing legal referrals, court monitoring, and emergency support following the arrests, as advocates warn that enforcement targeting LGBTQ communities has intensified.

In Malaysia, a Muslim-majority but multi-ethnic and multi-faith country, consensual same-sex sexual conduct is criminalized under both civil and Islamic law. The federal penal code bans “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” a provision that applies nationwide, while state-level Shariah laws governing Muslims prohibit same-sex relations and gender nonconformity, including cross-dressing. Together, the dual-track legal system allows authorities to pursue LGBTQ people under parallel civil and religious statutes.

According to Justice for Sisters, 202 people — including venue owners, staff, and customers — were arrested and detained overnight. The organization in a statement said detainees were repeatedly denied access to legal counsel and communication with family members, and that their identities and images were exposed publicly — actions it said led to humiliation and, in some cases, job losses.

According to testimonies collected by Justice for Sisters and several other NGOs, detainees reported multiple procedural violations during the legal process. In a document the group published, detainees said they were not informed of the charges against them, were denied access to legal counsel, and phone communication for hours, and, in the case of foreign nationals, were not given access to embassies or translators. The document also described interrogations that included intrusive questions about sexual practices and orientation, as well as detention conditions in which detainees were repeatedly ordered to sit, stand, and recline without explanation and transported in overcrowded vehicles, with 30 to 40 people placed in trucks designed for far fewer passengers.

Detainees also reported being subjected to degrading treatment while in custody. 

Accounts said detainees were denied access to toilets for extended periods and instructed to urinate into bottles, which were later thrown at them. Some detainees said officers suggested using rubber bands to restrict urination. Detainees also said authorities kept them awake overnight and repeatedly ordered them to sit upright or monitor others to prevent them from sleeping.

“We call on the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) and the Ministry of Health (KKM) to immediately launch an independent and unbiased assessment and investigation into the actions of the agencies involved during the raid, detention, and subsequent procedures, after the court rejected the remand extension request on Nov. 29, 2025,” Justice for Sisters said in a statement. “This raid has had a serious impact on public health. Many individuals reported heightened mental distress, including suicidal thoughts and severe psychological stress, affecting their ability to carry out daily activities such as eating, working, sleeping, and accessing medical treatment. When safe-sex tools such as condoms or pre-exposure prophylaxis are used to imply criminal activity, it directly undermines progress in the country’s public health response.”

Justice for Sisters also said law enforcement officers must conduct investigations professionally and fairly, while upholding the presumption that detainees are innocent until proven guilty. The organization in a statement said police must carry out their duties in a manner that preserves public trust and confidence in the justice system.

Rights groups say enforcement actions against LGBTQ gatherings in Malaysia have not been limited to the capital. 

In June 2025, police in the northeastern state of Kelantan raided a private rented property described by authorities as a “gay party,” arresting 20 men, according to state police statements.

According to Reuters, Malaysian law enforcement authorities said they would review their procedures following the November raid. The report cited Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Fadil Marsus as saying that 171 Malaysian nationals were released from custody after authorities found no evidence to prosecute them.

The Washington Blade reached out to the Royal Malaysia Police for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

“We do not want a situation where raids and arrests are carried out but, in the end, the evidence is inadmissible,” Marsus said, according to Reuters.

As of Dec. 1, all but one of the 37 foreign nationals detained in the raid had been released, with the remaining person held on an immigration-related matter, according to Reuters. Authorities have not publicly disclosed whether they remain in custody.

The Kazakh Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would ban so-called LGBTQ propaganda in the country.

Members of Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament last month unanimously approved the measure that would ban “‘LGBT propaganda’ online or in the media” with “fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders.” Senators earlier this month delayed a vote on the bill.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has indicated he would sign it.

“If enacted, these provisions would undermine fundamental rights guaranteed under Kazakhstan’s Constitution, particularly the principle of equality and non-discrimination, by directly targeting and stigmatizing LGBTI people and anyone perceived to support them,” said ILGA-Europe in a statement after Thursday’s vote.

Kazakhstan is a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic in Central Asia that borders Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China. Russia, Georgia, and Hungary are among the other countries with anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws.

José Antonio Kast on Sunday won the second round of Chile’s presidential election.

Kast is the far-right leader of the Republican Party who was a member of the country’s House of Deputies from 2002-2018. He defeated Jeannette Jara, a member of the Communist Party of Chile who was former labor and social welfare minister in outgoing President Gabriel Boric’s government, by a 58.2-41.8 percent margin.

The election’s first round took place on Nov. 16.

Kast and Jara faced each other in the runoff after no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote in the first round. Kast will take office on March 11.

“Under his leadership, we are confident Chile will advance shared priorities to include strengthening public security, ending illegal immigration, and revitalizing our commercial relationship,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday in a statement. “The United States looks forward to working closely with his administration to deepen our partnership and promote shared prosperity in our hemisphere.”

The Washington Blade has previously reported Kast has expressed his opposition to gender-specific policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to Chile’s anti-discrimination laws. The president-elect has also publicly opposed the country’s marriage equality law that took effect in 2022.

The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym Movilh, in a statement acknowledged the election result. Movilh also declared a “state of alert, given this leader’s (Kast’s) public and political trajectory, characterized for decades by systematic opposition to laws and policies aimed at equality and nondiscrimination of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”

“We urge the president-elect and far-right sectors that follow him to understand and internalize (the fact) that the rights of LGBTIQ+ people are inscribed in the universality of human rights, and they are not built upon an ideology or a political trend,” said Movilh in its statement. “This is not, and never has been, a left-wing or right-wing issue, although some on both sides have gone to great lengths to suggest otherwise, without any basis other than their own partisan or electoral aspirations.”

Organizado Trans Diversidades, a group that advocates on behalf of trans and nonbinary Chileans, on social media said it will “continue the fight for our community’s human rights.”