Stories
Debbie
‘The teacher, who is a Christian and really religious and everything, called me and asked for my help. I said, ”Okay,” and followed the teacher. They took me to an empty classroom. They locked the door, and turned off the light. In my mind, I was asking myself, “What are they doing?”
‘The teacher then asked me to sit down, and asked me to pray. And I did it because they are my teacher and I am a student, and there’s fear.’
Debbie, a queer person, shared how she was subjected to an ‘intervention’ to ‘correct’ her sexual orientation by a teacher after some students reported Debbie for her queer content on her social media accounts.
‘The teacher, who is a Christian and really religious and everything, called me and asked for my help. I said, “Okay,” and followed the teacher. They took me to an empty classroom. They locked the door, and turned off the light. In my mind, I was asking myself, “What are they doing?”
‘The teacher then asked me to sit down, and asked me to pray. And I did it because they are my teacher and I am a student, and there’s fear. So, I just followed what they said. The teacher said, “I know about you,” and talked about the things that I have done. And I thought to myself, “Oh, no… how do they know?’ I was surprised. … At that time, I was so afraid. I couldn’t say anything, I just cried there. I could hear my teacher talking, but I couldn’t comprehend anything because of my fear.”’
Source: Child Rights Coalition Malaysia (2019) Status Report on Child Rights in Malaysia 2019