The mak nyah community in Malaysia faces many forms of discrimination in all areas of life, including employment, housing and health care.4 In 2010, both the UK and Aus- tralia recognised Malaysian transgender asylum-seekers as refugees, in response to the persecution and discrimination which they face in their country of origin.5 Malay- sian law contains several provisions which are used to discriminate against individu- als of the mak nyah community. In 1983, the Malaysian Conference of Rulers issued a
The Equal Rights Review, Vol. Seven (2011)
146
fatwa which prohibited sex-reassignment surgery, except for intersex people, on the basis that such surgery was against Islamic religion. Whilst sex-reassignment surgery remains legal for non-Muslims, the Malaysian courts have sent ambiguous messages as to whether an individual who has undergone such a procedure is entitled to have their acquired gender officially recognised through an amendment to their identity card (or My Kad). In the Wong’s case,6 the judge of the High Court of Ipoh upheld the refusal of the national Registration De- partment to amend or correct the Birth Certificate and Na- tional Registration Identity Card of the claimant who was a transsexual man. However, in J.G.’s case,7 a judge of the High Court of Kuala Lumpur, in dealing with very similar facts to those in the Wong’s case, decided that the claim- ant’s identity card should be amended to acknowledge her acquired gender