Minister's 'stress' theory misses the pointListen to this articleMalaysia's Minister for Religious Affairs, Datuk Zulkifli Hasan, has grabbed global media headlines with his remarks on the LGBTQ+ community. While his quote narrowly reducing LGBTQ+ identity to an outcome of being "stress-induced" has caused far and wide criticism, his statement is deeply worrying. While he tried to engage with a constructionist argument by saying that the environment could affect people's sexual orientation, the question arises: what determines sexual orientation? It is debatable, or even dismissible, to suggest that workplace stress serves as a catalyst for shifting sexual orientation. Furthermore, endorsed on May 17, 1990, the World Health Organization declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder and recognised sexual orientation as diversity.

Source: Bangkok Post February 02, 2026 01:46 UTC