Earlier this month, Malaysia’s government has threatened jail time for anyone buying or selling LGBTQ Swatch watches. Authorities have prohibited the rainbow-colored watches made by the Swiss watchmaker and say that owning one could result in up to three years in prison.
A post on the Malaysian Interior Ministry’s official Facebook page stated the reason being that the watches are “promoting, supporting and normalizing the LGBTQ+ movement that is not accepted by the general public in Malaysia,” and that the LGBTQ elements may “harm the morality” of the country.
Homosexuality is illegal in the southeast Asian nation, and homosexual acts are punishable by “up to 20 years in prison and/or whipping” there, according to the U.S. State Department.
LGBTQ people in Malaysia face severe discrimination and harassment including criminal penalties, conversion practices, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and slander on a regular basis. The Swatch watch ban is just one of the most recent crackdowns by the Malaysian government. Malaysia’s law enforcement unit at the interior ministry raided Swatch stores at over 10 different shopping malls across the country.
Swatch filed a lawsuit in response to those raids in July, saying the government had damaged the company’s reputation. Swatch did not respond to the latest ban of products in Malaysia and said that they are “waiting for the hearing” regarding the lawsuit, which is scheduled for this month.
Photo courtesy of Twitter
