Malaysian government criticised for hosting seminars to spot ‘gay children’
The Malaysian government has been criticised by Amnesty International for hosting a series of seminars for parents and teachers, claiming how to identify if a child is gay.
According to the Guardian, a total of 1,500 people have attended ten seminars, which have been organised by the Teachers Foundation of Malaysia.
The foundation claims gay children can be spotted because of their preferences for tight, light clothes and large handbags.
Gay women were deemed less obvious to spot – they were described as having “no affection for men” and would like to “hang out and sleep in the company of women”.
In a posting on its staff blog site, Amnesty said: “It might sound like something from Victorian England, but this is modern day Malaysia,” adding “it reflects a worrying trend towards increased homophobia in the country”.
Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia and the country sparked global outrage after it sent “effeminate” boys to a “gay cure” camp in early 2011.
