Malaysia's anti-gay camp violates law says minister

A camp set up to correct the effeminate behaviour of Muslim schoolboys violates the law and should be abolished, says Malaysia's women's minister.

Sixty-six schoolboys identified by teachers as effeminate began counselling this week to discourage them from being gay.

They are undergoing four days of religious and physical education.

An education official said the camp was meant to guide the boys back "to a proper path in life".

But the women's minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, said singling out these children based on perceived feminine mannerisms was traumatising and harmful to their mental health.

The camp violates the Child Act, which protects children without prejudice, she said.

Gay rights groups have also criticised the measure, saying it promotes homophobia in the Muslim-majority country where gay sex is still illegal.

The schoolboys allegedly displayed "feminine mannerisms" - though educators in the conservative state of Terengganu did not detail what they were, the BBC's Jennifer Pak reports from Kuala Lumpur.

State officials say that, if left unchecked, the students - aged between 13 and 17 - could end up gay or transsexual.
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We should send a clear message to institutions that they have no business meddling with an individual's identity and personal preference”

Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, Malaysia

They blame parents for encouraging boys to develop feminine traits, by dressing them up in girls' clothing at a young age.

Terengganu state's education director, Razali Daud, said the students were invited to join the camp and were not compelled to do so.

"As educators, we have to do something about it before the young ones misunderstand people and reach the point of no return," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

Mr Razali says although homosexuals and transvestites exist in Malaysia, the authorities want to limit their number.
Homophobia

Gay sex is illegal in Malaysia and homosexuals say they face discrimination from government policies such as a law that makes sodomy punishable by 20 years in prison.

Activists say it is appalling that educators are persecuting children for expressing their personalities and identities.

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality said "corrective boot camps" violate the rights of people who are perceived as different.

"It should be strongly opposed and challenged as it promotes homophobia and prejudice," the group said in a statement.
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its just wrong wrong wrong. i don't condone the act but i also don't think they deserve jail term.

it myt curtail it. There might be some implication health wise

I'm sure there are much bigger and greater and more pressing problems in Malaysia than homosexuality.

Why can't they just kill him at once ?

he will get plenty of D/I/C/K where he's going.

i would p-r-e-f-e-r sanctions of in 9ja. What the heck in disfiguring some1s health all in the name of Homo. Our govt are lenient. Soon we would be sleeping with our sis&bro

Inked_Nerd:

Smh, this is by far one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Even if these children do get through this "program", that doesn't mean that they won't be gay. These people are mentally crippling their children with their idiotic beliefs on homosexuality

But the govt has to start somewhere. There are some medical complications for such act. Maybe if they impose life in imprisonment for being a gay maybe it would curtail it. Maybe der myt b more of a homosexual rape case