“Work stress makes people gay” Malaysian minister makes bizarre claim

A Malaysian minister has been mocked for claiming that work stress can turn people gay. 

The enforcement spotlight fell on Malaysia’s LGBTQ community two weeks ago after religious authorities and police acted on complaints from a sultan and Islamist politicians that a camping retreat was promoting the LGBTQ lifestyle. 

The s£xual minority community came under fresh scrutiny when Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Hasan said on Tuesday, Jan. 27, that work stress was among several factors allegedly pushing people into s£xual orientations that were not strictly heteros£xual. 

“Societal influence, s£xual experiences, work stress and other personal factors come under this category [of possible causes],” Zulkifli said in a written parliamentary reply to a question by Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, a lawmaker with the opposition Islamist party PAS. 
 

Citing a 2017 study by “Sulaiman et al”, the minister said the combination of such elements “can contribute to the increase in LGBT acts”. 

Many poked fun at the minister and questioned the logic behind his claim.