Boys seen as effeminate sent to camp to be 'cured'

A GROUP of 66 Malaysian schoolboys viewed as effeminate have been sent to a special camp to make them more butch and “cure” them of any homosexual tendencies. Human rights groups have called for the camp to be abolished.

The Muslim boys, aged between 13 and 17, were picked out as being too effeminate by their teachers, and the director of the education department in the state of Terengganu said the boys would undergo physical education, attend religious classes and listen to talks by motivational speakers at the four-day camp.

“As educators, we have to do something about it before the young ones misunderstand people and reach the point of no return,” Terengganu state’s education director, Razali Daud, told the New Straits Times.

Gay sex is illegal in the largely Muslim Malaysia, and human rights groups say the camp is further evidence of homophobia at work in the country.

Parents of the boys had encouraged their offspring in their feminine ways by dressing them up in girls’ clothes at a young age, and the youngsters risked ending up transsexual or gay, Mr Razali said.

While he acknowledged that there were transvestites and homosexuals in Malaysia, he said efforts had to be made to keep the numbers down.

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality said singling out boys who showed effeminate characteristics was “highly discriminatory, bordering on the predatory” and that the camps violated the rights of people who are perceived as different.

Women’s minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said singling out children based on perceived feminine mannerisms could cause them severe mental stress and traumatise them. It violated Malaysia’s Child Act, which protects children without prejudice, she said.

Gay Malaysians complain that they are discriminated against by legislation such as the anti-sodomy law, which punishes sodomy with 20 years in prison, and codes in some parts of the country that forbid cross-dressing.