KUALA LUMPUR — Justice for Sisters (JFS) and 12 other civil society organisations have urged the Kuala Terengganu City Council to immediately remove signboards bearing anti-LGBT messages, condemning them as discriminatory and a form of hate speech under international human rights law.

They also criticised a statement by the Terengganu state executive councillor defending the signboards as a campaign against homosexual behaviour, saying this incites hatred and promotes discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.“The state’s actions are clearly aimed at advocating hatred and discrimination, and cannot be justified under any circumstances,” the groups said, pointing to a troubling pattern of state-sanctioned persecution of LGBTQ people in Terengganu.