THREE transgender Malaysians won the right to dress as other women yesterday in a landmark court case.

The Court of Appeals ruled that a religious law in Negeri Sembilan state which banned cross-dressing was discriminatory and deprived trans people of “the right to live with dignity.”

Judge Mohamad Hishammuddin Mohamad Yunus slammed the law as “degrading, oppressive and inhumane.”

But he pandered to homophobic stereotypes in the same judgement, saying that the Islamic law was supposed to curb homosexual and lesbian activities “that led to the spread of HIV,” but the current case “has nothing to do with homosexuality” but was rather about Muslim men with a “medical condition.”

Transgender rights activist Nisha Ayub hailed a “victory for human rights” nonetheless, noting that it will allow trans people in other states to bring legal challenges to laws oppressing them.

All 13 Malaysian states have laws against “men dressing as women.”