LGBTQ watches
Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, has filed a lawsuit against the Malaysian government in response to the authorities’ confiscation of watches that celebrate LGBTQ pride.
The lawsuit, filed in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, seeks compensation and the return of 172 watches. The Malaysian authorities seized watches under the pretext of containing “LGBT elements.”
In the legal filing on June 24, Swatch argues that the seizure of the watches, valued at 64,795 ringgit ($14,232), lacked any legal basis and included items that were unrelated to LGBTQ activism.
The company asserts that the confiscated watches pose no threat to public order, morality, or any violation of the law.
In May, Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs conducted raids at several shopping malls throughout the country. The officials confiscated the watches, some of which featured the rainbow colors associated with LGBTQ pride.
Swatch Group Chief Executive Nick Hayek questioned the rationale behind considering “peace and love” as harmful. He pondered whether authorities would attempt to confiscate rainbows in the sky if such a thing were possible.
Both the Ministry of Home Affairs and Swatch have yet to provide a response to requests for comment on the matter.
Malaysia, with a population that is approximately 60 percent Muslim, criminalizes same-sex sexual activity, imposing penalties such as caning and imprisonment.
This has raised concerns among rights groups about the increasing intolerance faced by sexual minorities in the Southeast Asian country, which operates under a dual legal system that restricts sexual and gender expression conflicting with Islamic teachings for the Malay-Muslim majority.
In a troubling development, in May, two members of parliament from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), the largest party in parliament, advocated classifying LGBTQ individuals as suffering from a mental illness.
Many multinational companies like Swatch support the LGBTQ community in different ways.
