Discrimination against non-heteronormative individuals in Malaysia is a systemic issue extending across various societal levels. Mainstream media, in this regard, has been shown to play a significant role in framing public discourse, often reinforcing existing societal norms, thus further marginalizing non-heteronormative communities and supporting cis-heterosexism as the prevailing ideology. Particularly alarming is the discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals and practices on Malaysian social media platforms, which are key spaces for gender-related discrimination yet remain largely under-researched. This proposed research adopts a bottom-up approach to explore anti-LGBTQ+ discourse on popular Malaysian social media platforms. Drawing on the Critical Discourse Analysis, particularly the Discourse-Historical Approach, the study aims to identify recurring linguistic patterns, intersecting themes, and predominant arguments against LGBTQ+ communities. The analysis reveals that discrimination and antagonism directed against LGBTQ+ individuals are discursively justified by arguments tied to biological determinism and reproduction imperatives, religious and moral obligations, social and familial destabilisation, pathological associations, and negative personal anecdotes. The research is significant for two main reasons. Firstly, it leverages the anonymity of social media to enable a candid exploration of public sentiments, uncovering underlying biases that might otherwise remain hidden in more reserved communication settings. Secondly, the selection of a large corpus provides a more comprehensive view of the current online climate surrounding the issue at hand. The findings will help promote alternative public interpretations and foster more inclusive environments for the LGBTQ+ community in Malaysian society.

Authors:
Chenri Xia, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia
Sahar Rasoulikolamaki, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia
Ali Jalalian Daghigh, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia

About the Presenter(s)
Xia Chenri is an MA student at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya (Malaysia).

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