He tells Cambridge Union that there will be no gay marriage in his Islamic country

IN a speech to the Cambridge Union in the UK on Sunday, Dr Mahathir Mohamad insisted that Malaysia will not recognise same-sex marriage.

Mahathir dismissed same-sex marriage as a “regressive way of thinking’” and argued there is no “absolute right” which would allow for marriage equality.

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The PM, above, has expressed his opposition to LGBT+ rights on numerous occasions in the past.

LGBT+ advocates in Malaysia have called out the government for not doing enough to protect their rights, and in recent years, the country has seen an increase in anti-LGBT+ rhetoric.

Responding to questions after his speech,Mahathir said:

I don’t understand gay marriage. Marriage is about producing children. Do you get children in a gay marriage? What do they do? They adopt children and things like that. Today, the institution of marriage is almost discarded. No marriage, no family… what are we going to be?

The old fool blathered on:

To us, this is a regressive way of thinking. Simply because you think people are free to do what they like, marrying a man and man, woman and woman, that’s okay as it is their right. But rights have got limits. There is no such thing as absolute right to do everything.

Even though same-sex marriage is considered a human right in various countries, Mahathir has said this never be introduced in Malaysia. He has described LGBTI rights as a “Western value” in the past.

His opposition to LGBTI rights has been echoed by Anwar Ibrahim, who is widely expected to become the next PM. Last month, Anwar said that Malaysia must not “bow down” to pressure on LGBTI rights.

Hardline Islamic groups in the Muslim-majority country have been fueling homophobia over the past year.

This has sparked a war of words between LGBT+ rights activists and influential Islamic groups in Malaysia.

High-ranking government officials have either seemed hesitant to speak out against anti-LGBT+ rhetoric or have actively added to the stigmatisation of the LGBT+ community.