Appeal application over cross-dressing ruling tomorrow

Tomorrow, the Federal Court will hear their application to seek leave to appeal from the apex court against the appellate court's decision, which had declared invalid the state Syariah enactment that criminalises Muslim transgenders for cross-dressing.

The other four applicants are the Negeri Sembilan Department of Islamic Religious Affairs, its director, Negeri Sembilan Syariah enforcement chief and the Negeri Sembilan Chief Syarie prosecutor.

In the leave application, the applicants submitted seven legal questions for the court's consideration.

An applicant in civil cases must first obtain leave from the Federal Court before appealing against a Court of Appeal decision.

If the Federal Court allows their leave application, they may proceed to appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling, but if they fail, the appellate court's verdict would be maintained.

On Nov 7 last year, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal brought by three Muslim bridal make-up artists -- Muhamad Juzaili Mohamad Khamis, 26; Syukor Jani, 28; and, Wan Fairol Wan Ismail, 30; -- and declared Section 66 of the Negeri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992 as invalid and unconstitutional.

A three-member panel chaired by Justice Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus held that the provision discriminated Muslim men suffering from a medical condition called gender identity disorder (GID).

Mohd Hishamudin said that Section 66, which penalised Muslim men who dressed or posed as women in public places, did not provide an exception for GID sufferers but had simply ignored them (GID sufferers) and had unfairly subjected them to the enforcement of the law.

The Court of Appeal overturned a high court's dismissal of the trio's judicial review application which rejected their request to declare unconstitutional, the Section 66.