GEORGE TOWN: Penang State Secretary Datuk Seri Farizan Darus today said he had instructed the organisers of the George Town Festival (GTF) 2018 to remove the pictures of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists Nisha Ayub and Pang Khee Teik from a photography exhibition here.
However, he said, it did not mean that the state government did not respect the LGBT community.
“While we respect the LGBT community, we do not want to encourage the open promotion of LGBT,” he said on the sidelines of the state legislative assembly sitting this afternoon.
Farizan said he had received complaints from the public and the Prime Minister’s Department on Monday.
“When I received the complaints, I asked the organisers to take down the photos, and they did so the following day.
Farizan said he did not attend the opening of the exhibition last Saturday, adding that if he had seen the photos, he would have asked the organisers to take them down.
Earlier today, state Women, Family, Non-Muslim Affairs and Gender Inclusivity Committee chairman Chong Eng said there was no need to remove the photos of Nisha and Pang.
She said there was no need to discriminate against anyone simply because of their sexual orientation.
Chong said there was no harm in Nisha and Pang expressing their love for the country.
Two 18.2m x 18.2m photos of Nisha and Pang by photographer Mooreyameen Mohamad were removed from the Stroke and Stripes exhibition at the month-long GTF.
The two photos were part of a 28-piece art exhibition at Dewan Sri Pinang in conjunction with Malaysia’s 61st Merdeka celebrations from Aug 4 to Sept 2.
The other portraits of Malaysians featured with the Malaysian flag included DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar, and lawyer Siti Kasim.