Sixty-six Muslim teenaged boys in Malaysia, identified by their teachers as “effeminate,” are being sent by their government to an anti-gay training camp on “masculine behavior,” in an attempt to stop them from becoming gay. The training, officially called a “self-development course,” is a combination of religious, physical, and motivational training, according to Razali Daud, the state’s education director.
The training camp is designed to “guide them back to the right path in life before they reach a point of no return,” Razali told the Associated Press. “Such effeminate behavior is unnatural and will affect their studies and their future,” he claims.
“It is not an overnight cure,” he said. “We can’t force the boys to change, but we want them to know what their choices are in life. Some effeminate boys end up as a transvestite or a homosexual, but we want to do our best to limit this.”
According to Wikipedia, “Malaysia retains its colonial era criminal ban on sodomy (as well as oral sex), broadly defined to include both heterosexual and homosexual acts, with possible punishment including fines, long prison sentences and even corporal punishment. A subsection of the criminal code, also provides additional punishment for persons convicted of, “gross indecency with another male person” In addition to the secular law, Muslim citizens may also be charged in special Islamic courts.”
A travel website for gay life in Malaysia adds, “Advisory: Gay life in Malaysia, as in other Asian countries, is blossoming despite conservative religion-based discrimination and outdated colonial-era laws. Former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, was famously removed from office by a trumped-up sodomy conviction that was reversed by Malaysia’s high court in 2004. Muslims, both local and visitors, are also subject to religious law which may (though rarely does) punish gay or lesbian sexual activity with flogging and male transvestism with imprisonment. Even though religious law does not apply to non-Muslims, Islam is the state religion under Malaysia’s constitution and thus homosexual citizens face official discrimination. Police may arrest any person (Muslim or not) for sex in a public place (i.e. cruise spots), so visitors are well-advised to respect Malaysian law and customs while they are guests in the country. Having said that, police generally have not detained foreigners during raids on local gay businesses, focusing instead on ethnic Malay customers, almost 100% of whom are considered Muslim at birth by law.”