Gay Pastor in New York Urges Change in Malaysia

The Rev. Boon Lin Ngeo, a Malaysian Protestant pastor whose message of tolerance for homosexuals has drawn fire in his country, sat with his male partner on a lime-green sofa inside the Office of the City Clerk in New York on a late summer day, where they waited their turn to be married.

The banality of the scene — the plastic-sealed bouquets, the bureaucratic march of couples through the office — masked the roiling effect that Mr. Ngeo’s nuptials have had in Malaysia, where Muslims are a majority and sodomy, even among consenting adults, remains a crime punishable by as many as 20 years in prison.

“I’m nobody here,” he said in New York, where same-sex marriage became legal in June, “but this marriage could have a global impact.”

While prosecutions in Malaysia under the sodomy law are rare, they are not unheard of. The leader of the country’s political opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, is facing sodomy charges for the second time in what he has called a politically motivated trial.

Advocates for gay rights say that even if such legal threats are remote, many Malaysians remain afraid to come out publicly for fear of religious condemnation, choosing instead to survive in a conservative society by remaining in the shadows.

But in recent years, Mr. Ngeo, 41, and others have encouraged gay Malaysians to let a little more light seep in, tentatively pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable.

One group, Sexuality Merdeka, created an annual festival in 2008 celebrating sexuality in all its forms. Last year, it encouraged Malaysians to post videos online proclaiming their sexuality, in a campaign modeled on the American “It Gets Better” video project combating the bullying of gays. The organization received 15 submissions, but posted only 5 before stopping because of a backlash that included death threats.

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