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‘Please give this man more to do’: Malaysian minister faces backlash after linking workplace stress to ‘LGBT lifestyle’

Dr Zulkifli Hasan said that from 2022 to 2025, a total of 135 cases related to LGBT activities were recorded as arrests or prosecutions.

2 min readNew DelhiJan 29, 2026 03:40 PM IST

Dr Hasan said work-related stress could be among the factors that lead individuals to adopt an LGBT lifestyle (File photo/Representational)

Dr Zulkifli Hasan, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), Malaysia, is under fire after he associated workplace stress with sexual orientation. Dr Hasan made the comments during a parliamentary session.

Responding to a question raised by Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, who sought updated data on LGBT trends in Malaysia, Dr Hasan said work-related stress could be among the factors that lead individuals to adopt what he described as an LGBT lifestyle.

These factors, he said, include social environment, sexual experiences, work-related stress, and other personal circumstances. Dr Zulkifli added that insufficient religious practice could be another contributing factor, The Straits Times reported.

He informed that from 2022 to 2025, a total of 135 cases related to LGBT activities were recorded as arrests or prosecutions.

Dr Hasan’s statement did not sit well with several social media users and sparked criticism. “He answer a question by quoting a research which listed a few factors, including work. Enough with the propaganda,” a user wrote.

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“Somebody in Parliament, please give this man more to do. Give him double, no triple the workload. Make him the very example of his own statement,” another user commented. “If being too stressed from work makes you want to have sex with other guys, that says WAY more about you than it does about anyone else,” a third user reacted.

Justice for Sisters, a human rights group, reacted to the claims, calling them “misinformation”. “This misinformation reinforces the assumption that LGBT people’s sexual orientation and gender identity can be corrected, changed or are not real or as valid as cisgender heterosexual identities,” Thilaga Sulathireh of LGBTQ rights group Justice for Sisters told This Week in Asia.

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“The fact is diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics is completely natural and normal. This has been proven by medical and other bodies. The minister must retract and correct the misinformation,” Thilaga added.