Asia-Pacific News

Malaysian court rejects bid by petitioner to be declared a woman

Jul 18, 2011, 8:02 GMT

Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian court on Monday rejected a bid by a petitioner born male to be legally declared a woman after a sex-change operation.

Mohamad Ashraf Hafiz Abdul Aziz, 26, also had requested that the court approve a name change to Aleesha Farhana Abdul Aziz.

But the High Court of Kuala Terengganu, the capital of Terengganu state, rejected his application because he failed to fulfil three criteria: chromosome count, the appearance of his genitals at birth and his internal sex organs, the official news agency Bernama reported.

Ashraf Hafiz said he had a sex-change operation in Thailand in 2009, and in May, he filed his court petition in Malaysia's secular civil courts to help him to apply for university.

Judge Mohamad Yazid Mustafa, however, said the operation could not be used as the grounds to grant his application, adding that no medical report from a hospital was submitted to the court.

'The court has no authority to make any declaration regarding gender change,' the judge said. 'There is no legal provision in this country that allows such an application.'

Transsexuals have long faced legal limbo in the predominantly Muslim country, where sex-change surgery is banned and same-sex relationships are criminal. Muslim transsexuals also may be hauled before religious authorities and not just the police.