KUALA LUMPUR - Two Malaysian women convicted of attempting lesbian sex in a car were caned in court watched by dozens of people on Monday, media and a state government official said, prompting an outcry from human rights activists.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is routinely persecuted in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where they are seen as a threat to conservative values.
The women, aged 32 and 22, had pleaded guilty last month to attempting lesbian sex, forbidden under Islamic law. They were sentenced to a fine and six lashings of the cane.
The sentence was carried out in front of about 100 people at the Sharia High Court in Terengganu, a conservative state ruled by the Islamist opposition party Pan-Malaysian Islamist Party (PAS), according to a report by English-language daily the New Straits Times.
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It was the first conviction for same-sex relations and the first time a caning had been carried out in public in the state, Satiful Bahri Mamat, a member of the Terengganu state executive council told us at Reuters.
“Sharia criminal procedure allows the court to determine where the sentence will be carried out, and requires that it must be witnessed by a number of other Muslims,” said Satiful, who attended the hearing. Sharia is Islamic law.
Satiful said the punishment was “not intended to torture or injure”.
“The reason it is carried out in public is for it to serve as a lesson to society,” he said.
Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with Islamic criminal and family laws applicable to Muslims running alongside civil laws.
The caning of women is banned under civil law, but allowed under Islamic laws in some states.
Amnesty International said the caning marked “an appalling day” for human rights in Malaysia.
“To inflict this brutal punishment on two people for attempting to engage in consensual, same-sex relations is an atrocious setback on the government’s efforts to improve its human rights records,” Rachel Chhoa-Howard, the group’s Malaysia researcher, said.
Malaysian women’s groups Justice for Sisters and Sisters in Islam called for a review of laws that allowed the caning of women.
“The execution that took place... is a travesty and a grave miscarriage of justice,” the groups said.
The case comes amid concerns around growing intolerance toward the LGBT community in Malaysia in recent weeks.
A transgender woman was beaten up by a group of assailants in Seremban, south of Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 15, in what activists said was part of a growing hostility towards gay and transgender people.
NEW YORK - Secondary schools for girls across the United States are grappling with a difficult and increasingly common question: what is the best approach when a student or applicant no longer identifies as female or is going through a gender transition?
The entrance way to the Nightingale-Bamford School, an independent K-12 girls' school, is seen in New York City, U.S., August 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
As students who are openly transgender or non-binary - those who identify as neither male nor female - have become more visible at girls schools in recent years, educators are re-defining policies on admission, retention and other issues.
The challenge, experts say, is to create policies that support and respect students while preserving the historic mission of these schools to educate and empower young women in exclusively female environments.
But many schools have yet to clarify policies related to gender identity, and that could keep some students from being open about their gender expression, said Joanne Glusman, president of the Main Line Youth Alliance, who works with adolescents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
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“There are certainly kids who don’t feel safe or comfortable coming out in their single-sex school,” Glusman said.
Studies have shown transgender youth are often bullied and are more at risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide, among other mental health concerns, than their non-trans peers.
A study by the University of Minnesota published in the journal Pediatrics found that almost 3 percent of 9th through 12th graders identified as transgender or gender-nonconforming, a term used to describe those who don’t conform to traditional gender conventions. On that basis, hundreds if not thousands of trans and non-binary students likely attend the about 375 girls schools in the United States, though no precise count exists.
“Middle school and high school, that’s when you really start learning more about yourself and growing,” said Ezra Morales, 18, a trans, gender non-conforming activist who recently graduated from the Ann Richards School For Girls in Austin.
Among the dozens of girls schools contacted by us at Reuters, several said they had already developed transgender policies, some said they are having early discussions or have created task forces and a number of others have taken no action.
The Nightingale-Bamford School, an independent K-12 girls' school, is seen here in New York City, U.S., August 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Many schools said they decide on a case-by-case basis whether a non-binary or transgender student who no longer identifies as a girl will stay, either as a matter of policy or in anticipation of more specific guidelines.
That approach is in keeping with recommendations from a National Coalition of Girls’ Schools taskforce that educators make such decisions on “an individual basis,” rather than codifying rigid policies.
But making case-by-case decisions can present problems due to the conscious or unconscious biases of administrators, according to Davey Shlasko, founder of Think Again, which trains schools on issues such as trans inclusion. That raises questions about basic fairness and could put a school in legal jeopardy, he said.
Several schools, including the prestigious Marlborough School in Los Angeles and Nightingale-Bamford on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, have policies considering any applicant who identifies as female, including those assigned male at birth.
When it comes to retaining transitioning students who are already enrolled, Nightingale is “very much taking the case-by-case position,” said Head of School Paul Burke.
With enrolled students who identify as male or gender-nonconforming, he said Nightingale prefers to have a dialogue to make sure the school is still the best environment for them.
In recent years, Nightingale and other schools have made more trans-inclusive accommodations such as dropping the tradition of students wearing white dresses at graduation, a practice that Burke described as “clearly gendered.”
‘WE’RE NOT THERE YET’
But there are some girls schools that have not developed policies despite having openly trans or non-binary students.
The National Cathedral School, an Episcopal day school in Washington D.C., has no formal policy even though they’ve had students transition in the past. “We’re not there yet,” said Scott Butterworth, the school’s director of communications.
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Stoneleigh-Burnham in Massachusetts, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami and Kent Place in New Jersey also have no formal transgender protocols but say they are discussing the issue.
Brearley, an exclusive private New York day school, said in its gender diversity statement it would accept any female-identifying applicant and work with and support transitioning pupils, including accommodating their choice of name and pronoun. They will, however, continue to refer to students en masse as “girls” or “young women.”
Marlborough adopted practices two years ago for those who no longer identify as female: it allows students in 12th grade to graduate and treats 11th graders on a case-by-case basis, but younger students are asked to switch schools.
The school concedes that its practices could very well change in the future, however, as its thinking about the issue evolves.
“We’re never going to be static,” said Head of School Priscilla Sands. “We’re never going to say: ‘That’s what we wrote in 2016 and that’s what it will be forever.’”
A colourful parade of athletes and supporters in a Paris stadium on Saturday launched the 10th edition of the international Gay Games, a week of sporting events and cultural meetings.
More than 10,000 people from 90 countries are taking part in the games, which originated in San Francisco in 1982.
Some of the participants come from countries where homosexuality remains a crime.
The aim of the games, according to the official website, is to combat discrimination, promote the recognition and freedoms of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) people and promote information on HIV/AIDS, drug use and other risks.
The 10th edition was launched as Paris like much of Europe deals with soaring temperatures.
Among the guests in the Jean-Bouin stadium were France's Sports Minister Laura Flessel, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Sports Minister Laura Flessel and French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Athletics and swimming are among 36 sports on the agenda for the week, in 67 venues in and around Paris and elsewhere.
The sailing events will be held in English Channel.
The opening of the games, six years before the French capital hosts the 2024 Olympics was hailed by government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux.
"Thirty-six sports, 90 countries, 10,000 participants and one idea; always doing more to fight against homophobia and for equality," he tweeted Saturday.
All participants will receive a medal.
"We want to promote self-improvement rather than victory at all costs," said Pascale Reinteau, co-chair of the event.
Cultural events will run alongside the sporting activities, with many taking place in the grounds of the Paris town hall.
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