Malaysia's Federal Court Rules On Procedural Grounds Against Transgender Challenge To State Law

As previously reported, last November a 3-judge appeals court panel in the Malaysian state of  Negeri Sembilan struck down a state law barring Muslim men from wearing women's clothing. The appeal was brought by three transgender women who, a lower court had ruled, were required to wear men's clothing because they were born as males. The state appealed the ruling to Malaysia's Federal Court which yesterday set aside on procedural grounds the appeals court's November ruling. According to Free Malaysia Today, a five-judge panel of the Federal Court ruled that the challenge to the statute should have been decided initially by the Federal Court, rather than being brought to it on appellate review.