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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Raids on men-only saunas and spas across Malaysia have raised fears of an intensifying crackdown on LGBTQ communities, in what activists view as a steadily illiberal turn under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government.
While officials defend such operations as necessary to uphold Malaysian law and Islamic principles, rights advocates said the latest raids fit a pattern of punitive policing that is driving gay communities further underground and deterring them from seeking health services.
On Friday night, Kuala Lumpur police led a joint operation with City Hall and the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) at a men-only spa in the city centre, arresting more than 200 patrons after two weeks of surveillance.
Police said the spa had been operating for about eight months, charging a 10-ringgit (US$2.40) lifetime registration fee and 35 ringgit per visit, and promoting itself on social media.


Although the venue never explicitly advertised themselves as a “gay sauna”, officials said it was widely perceived as such based on how it operated. Police told reporters they found condoms and other items indicating alleged sexual activity on site.
Less than 24 hours later, police in Penang detained 13 men in a separate raid on a sauna believed to be used for illicit same-sex activity. Local media reported that all were remanded for six days.
Both raids are being investigated under Section 377B, a colonial-era law criminalising “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” that activists say is routinely used to target gay people.
Videos of the Kuala Lumpur raid went viral online, showing patrons – their faces unblurred – lined up in white towels as officers moved them through the premises. A list circulated on social media also purported to identify the workplaces of some detainees. It is unclear who released the videos and list.
Legal Dignity, a rights group supporting detainees, warned that such raids had “become a serious access-to-justice crisis”, compounded by the leaking of personal details.
“The leak and viral spread of this sensitive data is a serious breach of privacy and dignity,” it said, warning that exposure “puts detainees and their families at risk of discrimination, extortion, job or housing loss, and long-term stigma”.
LGBTQ rights group Justice for Sisters (JFS) also accused authorities of discriminatory enforcement, saying the venue was targeted “due to its clientele”, and warned that such operations undermined HIV-prevention efforts.
“Such police raids and arrests … deter LGBTQ people from seeking support and undermine both governmental and communal efforts to end HIV,” it added.
JEJAKA, a Kuala Lumpur-based support organisation for gay, bisexual and queer men, said many detainees from Friday’s raid were held for more than 40 hours even though a magistrate had rejected a police remand bid the next morning.
The group described the prolonged detention as “an unlawful deprivation of liberty, a violation of due process and an apparent misuse of police authority”.
Under the Malaysian constitution, police may hold a person for no more than 24 hours before they must be brought before a magistrate.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus told reporters earlier on Sunday that investigators could not proceed with charges because “no one declared themselves a victim”, which he said limited what legal provisions police could rely on.

“So, the case is gone,” he said. “As for the [premises owner], there is indeed no offence at all for now.”
Religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar defended the operations, calling the activities uncovered “a very serious moral wrongdoing” that violated both Malaysian law and Islamic principles.
“This is a major moral offence … it cannot be accepted,” he told reporters on Sunday. He added Jawi would investigate the case under sharia provisions, including attempted liwat (sodomy) charges, and would step up prevention and education programmes on what he called “deviant sexual behaviour”.
The latest raids follow a pattern of LGBTQ-associated events facing legal scrutiny.
In June, more than 20 men were detained at a Kelantan bungalow gathering initially described as a “gay party”, later clarified by NGOs as a health and HIV testing session. But police eventually charged three of the men with possessing homosexual pornographic material found on their mobile phones.
In 2022, religious authorities arrested participants at an LGBTQ-themed Halloween gathering for cross-dressing or “encouraging vice”.
And in 2018, two women in Terengganu were publicly caned after being found guilty of attempting to engage in lesbian sex.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who spent years in jail on allegations of sodomy, has said LGBTQ recognition “will not happen” under his administration, calling any such expectations “a delusion”.
Government agencies have also extended scrutiny to cultural and commercial symbols. In 2023, authorities seized rainbow-coloured Swatch watches made for Pride month, underscoring the administration’s readiness to intervene even in consumer goods viewed as promoting LGBTQ culture.


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Malaysia

Raids on men-only spas in Malaysia raise concerns about targeting of LGBTQ groups

Police in Kuala Lumpur arrested more than 200 people during a raid on a mens-only spa. Photo: Shutterstock

A man walks past a Swatch outlet in Putrajaya. Malaysian authorities seized rainbow-themed Swatch watches made for Pride month in 2023 as part of a wider crackdown on items deemed to promote LGBTQ culture. Photo: AP

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Activists said the police’s actions and the leaking of identities amplify stigma and safety, health risks


Activists said the police’s actions and the leaking of identities amplify stigma and safety, health risks.


Anwar Ibrahim

Crime

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Swatch Group

Raids on men-only spas in Malaysia raise concerns about targeting of LGBTQ groups

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Activists said the police’s actions and the leaking of identities amplify stigma and safety, health risks

Activists said the police’s actions and the leaking of identities amplify stigma and safety, health risks