A transgender Malaysian millionaire has revealed she feels pressured by the Government to reverse her transition.
Safiey Ilias, 24, was invited by mufti (religious law official) Datuk Seri Zulkifli Mohamad to have tea, but turned it down in fear it would become another of many attempts by religious leaders to "change [her] to become a man", according to her social media posts.
Ms Ilias decided to live as a woman in 2016 and her transition process been shared on her social media since then.
She made her fortune in the cosmetics industry, often posting pictures of her skincare line on her Instagram, which has over one million followers.
The Malay Mail reported Mr Mohamad used the Malay word "saudara", a male pronoun, to describe Ms Ilias in the invitation letter.
Ms Ilias had previously met with religious officials but said there continued to be rising public pressure for her to "change".
She posted on Instagram that people "expect too much" and if she were to meet with the official, people would think she "ought to change to become a man".
In a recent post on the social media site, Ms Ilias complained of hate speech in her comments section.
Malaysia and its officials are becoming increasingly intolerant of transgender people and laws still exist making it illegal to have gay sex in the country.
The Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed described LGBTQ+ as a "western concept" last October.
Newshub.
