LGBT rights are human rights. Trans rights are human rights. I had to say that early on, in order to make it clear on where I stand within this conflict.

Today, I had to attend one of those Friday sermon and prayers again. The imam of the day figured that it'll be an awesome idea to dare to talk about this topic: LGBT. Specifically, just how "dangerous" and "twisted" this ideology is, that it's a "syndrome", how it's against God's design, and how the imam implored these people to turn back into the "correct" path -- ie. repent and get married to the opposite sex -- lest they'd be "burning in the fiery pits of Hell".

In an instant, my otherwise normal day turned into a depressing one. All my mood was gone. I was holding back my anger. The entire 10 minutes of the sermon was spent just waiting for that damn sermon to just end, and just after the prayer was done, I stormed back to my home without second thought. Considering that it's currently Ramadan again and it's been the 2nd day of my fast on that time, that only made it even worse as I've had no way to douse my anger.

Unfortunately, it's inevitable that this sermon would happen in one way or another. Malaysia is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the rights of LGBT people, with it being officially made illegal in this country. While Islam did evolve over the years to accommodate the inevitable changing times such as the increased awareness of LGBT, many Islamic countries still hold onto that archaic form of Islam that is simply incompatible with the modern times. (Unsurprisingly, Malaysia is one of those countries.) It's possible that this came about partly since that controversy surrounding that certain wizard game... not gonna name that game here, but anyone who is aware of that controversy will know which game I'm referring to.

This wasn't the first time that I attended a sermon with such blatant bigotry, either. Around 10 years ago or so, I attended another Friday sermon, and the topic of the day was about the "evils" of homosexualism. I ended-up spending the entire sermon opening my phone and reading about homophobia. I was that cringed.

And speaking of the trans rights part, I'm now reminded of this 2009 CG animated movie produced here: Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula. Specifically, this one character: Sally. She's a trans woman... and is also one of the main villains. People kept referring to her via her dead name, "Salleh", which became her trigger throughout the movie. She's depicted in the most negative manner possible as a trans woman. Such negative depictions are unfortunately common here, as our censorship board will only allow LGBT characters to be shown in the cinemas, if they are depicted negatively, such as being villains in this case.

Throughout my years of using the Internet and being part of the furry fandom, I've met so much wonderful people within the LGBT community, specifically and especially those who are also part of the furry fandom. I've made friends with them. These people are wonderful to talk with, and I was fortunate enough to have met them. They're a far cry from all the negative descriptions of them that I was taught about when I was young at school. I understood their plight, and I felt guilty for not being able to show my support enough. Which is why such anti-LGBT discussions left me depressed. I fully believe that you don't choose to be part of the LGBT group: that's something based on the circumstances of your birth. This is unlike the furry fandom, in which you can join or leave the fandom as you see fit... Many of us joined because we felt like we couldn't fit well in the normal society.