Seksualiti Merdeka is an annual sexuality rights festival held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[1] Seksualiti Merdeka features a programme of talks, forums, workshops, art, theatre and music performances, interactive installations, and film screenings, organised by a coalition of Malaysian NGOs, artists and individuals. Merdeka is the name for Malaysia's Independence Day (Aug 31), hence Seksualiti Merdeka can be loosely translated as "Sexuality Independence".
Its stated aims[2] are:
1. To affirm sexuality rights as a human right
2. To empower individuals and communities of all sexualities
3. To create platforms for advocacy of sexuality rights
The first Seksualiti Merdeka was held in Aug 2008, coinciding with Merdeka celebrations.[3] It drew a crowd of about 400-500 people.[1]
The theme of Seksualiti Merdeka 2009 is “Our Bodies, Our Rights,” which reflects the organisers' wish to tie LGBT rights into the larger framework of human rights, based in part on the Yogyakarta Principles. It drew a crowd of 800-1000 people.
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Seksualiti Merdeka is founded by arts programmer Pang Khee Teik and singer-songwriter Jerome Kugan in 2008. Pang and Jerome have previously been involved in LGBT advocacy, for example, in 2003, together with Shanon Shah, Tan Beng Hui, Toni Kasim and others, they were involved in the handing of a Memorandum to the Human Rights Commission on the negative portrayal of effeminate men and masculine women in the Malaysian media.[4] As writers, they have also regularly written and read their gay stories in public.[5][6]
In 2008, Clarence Singham, co-founder of Singapore's pride festival IndigNation, invited Pang to organise a Malaysian programme within it. Pang then organised a segment called "Heartbreak Heroes: Four Malaysians on surviving love, loss & a hostel in Singapore", in which Pang, Kugan, activist Jac SM Kee and historian Farish A. Noor read their original writings.[7]
The experience inspired Pang and Kugan, who both work for The Annexe Gallery, to organise a similar kind of event within their arts space.[1]
With Our Bodies, Our Rights as the theme for the festival,[2] the focus surrounds issues that affect everyone, such as privacy, moral policing and human rights. The aim of the festival is to affirm sexuality rights as a human right, empower individuals and communities of all sexualities, and create platforms for advocacy of sexuality rights. Seksualiti Merdeka 2009 is made possible with the support of the Bar Council Human Rights Committee, PT Foundation, SUARAM, KRYSS, Women’s Candidacy Initiative, Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower), Purple Lab, Matahari Books, twenty.one kitchen+bar, The Annexe Gallery, and various individuals.
WED 12 AUG 09
Talkshow: All You Need is Love
THU 13 AUG 09
Documentary: Celluloid Closet
Documentary: Bukak Api
Documentary: Before Stonewall
Theater: That's the Way I Like It
Workshop: Kafe Bisikan Seks & Seksualiti
FRI 14 AUG 09
Documentary: Southern Comfort
Documentary: Pecah Lobang & She's My Son
Documentary: The Times of Harvey Milk
Theater: That's the Way I Like It
Workshop: Kafe Bisikan Seks & Seksualiti
SAT 15 AUG 09
Seksualiti Merdeka 2009 Launch
Debate: Moral Policing - Is It Justified?
Book Launch: BODY2BODY: A Malaysian Queer Anthology
Forum: The Law & Our Bodies
Concert: Rainbow Massacre
SUN 16 AUG 09
Tutorial: It's a Queer World - Queer Theory 101
Workshop: The Sex Talk Show
Talk: Screwed – The State of Human Rights in Malaysia
Forum: Who's Afraid of Sex?
Talk: Legalising Nature - Hong Kong, India & Singapore& SINGAPORE
Workshop: Police Power
Discussion: Step by Step
Concert: Rainbow Massacre
The first Seksualiti Merdeka took place on 29, 30 & 31 August, with the tagline "If one of us ain't free, none of us are!". It is held in conjunction with Merdeka celebrations "to address the fact that 51 years after independence, not all Malaysians are free to be who they are."[8]
FRI 29 AUG 08
Film: Comolot by Mohd Ikram Ismail, Pangyau by Amir Muhammad and Arisan by Nia Dinata.
SAT 30 AUG 08
Forum: To Live Without Fear – Dealing with violence against transsexuals
Forum: Probing Sexualities – Recent research into sexual diversity in Malaysia
Lecture: Psychology of Homophobia – Find out if you fit the profile
Storytelling: Heartbreakers Anonymous – Featuring Jit Murad, Dara (of Air-Con) and others
SUN 31 AUG 08
Lecture: From Panji To The Present – A short history of sexuality in Malaysia and South East Asia by Farish Noor
Workshop: Tongues Out – Borak-borak on our sexuality landscapes
Malaysian Artists For Diversity