The Push Factor Influencing Lesbians to End Their Involvement in Same-Sex Activity

Abstract

The issue of lesbians is not new in today’s Malaysian society. What is more worrying, this population continues to increase over time, unnoticed. In this country, statistics and accurate information about this group are limited because the social environment does not allow for same-sex activity. In addition, these individuals find it more difficult to comfortably reflect their sexual identity, thus they seek social support because they are aware that they differ from the norms of society while also be at risk to diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other deviant behaviours. Hence, the objective of this study is to analyse the likely factors that influence lesbians to abandon same-sex activity. This study used a qualitative approach and through the snowball sampling technique, 12 lesbians were interviewed from 10 states in Malaysia, namely Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Melaka, Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Selangor and Pahang. The results were analysed using Nvivo for Mac version 12 and only three respondents stated two factors of rejection, namely concerns about family acceptance and identity comparison.