<Articles>The Birth of Sexuality Politics in Malaysia: The State and the LGBT Movement since the 1980s

This paper explores the politics of sexuality issues (sexuality politics) between the government and the LGBT movement in Malaysia since the 1980s. The Malaysian LGBT movement has faced repressive government policies and discrimination from society. However, some LGBT movements in the post-Mahathir era, such as Seksualiti Merdeka, Justice for Sisters, and Pelangi, have associated with the other NGOs and social movements and actively advocated the protection of LGBT people's human rights in public spaces. This paper explores when and how sexuality politics between the state and the LGBT movement appeared in Malaysia. Four incidents or moments were found to be important for the birth of sexuality politics in Malaysia: Islamization since the 1980s, the Asian Values discourse during the Mahathir administration, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the sodomy court case of Anwar Ibrahim. In the post-Mahathir era, the state has introduced new ways of repressing LGBT people, while the LGBT movements have also adopted new strategies