A new law in the southeast Asian country of Malaysia criminalizes not just the import and sale of a certain rainbow-themed sportswatch, but the wearing of one as well. The penalty, for resident citizens and tourists alike, is up to three years in prison and a fine of 20,000 ringgit (about $4,375, £3,425 ).
Malaysia, a Ron DesAntis wet dream of a country, just held national elections last Saturday in which a coalition of Malay-Muslim political parties accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of not being draconian enough in his persecution of LGBTQ+ communities and friends.
“The Malaysian government is committed to preventing the spread of elements that are harmful or may be harmful to morals,” the [Interior] ministry said in a statement.
It said the watches “may harm … the interests of the nation by promoting, supporting and normalising the LGBTQ+ movement that is not accepted by the general public”.
A ministry official told Agence France-Presse in May that 172 watches worth $14,000 (£10,960) were seized in raids because they bore the “LGBTQ” acronym and had six colours instead of the seven in a rainbow.
Swatch is suing Malaysia over the confiscated timepieces; in a statement, CEO Nick Hayek wrote:
“We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colors and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever. On the contrary, Swatch always promotes a positive message of joy in life. This is nothing political. We wonder how the Malaysian government will confiscate the many beautiful natural rainbows that show up in the skies above Malaysia.”In the pictures I've seen of these watches, they are available in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple; there is a small rainbow flag on the strap loop. You'd have to have all six on your arm before it was obvious to passers-by that you were making a pro-LGBTQ+ rights statement.
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