Macau | Education bureau should “learn” from controversy to destigmatise sexual minorities in local schools – Gay rights activist

Macau (MNA) – Long-term LGBT rights activist Jason Chao Teng Hei told Macau News Agency (MNA) that he hopes the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) “learns” from the controversy generated by the department’s Deputy Director, Leong Vai Kei, to raise awareness in all Macau schools and destigmatise sexual minorities.

The DSEJ Deputy Director was the target of criticism by gay rights groups following comments she made to Portuguese newspapers Ponto Final and Tribuna de Macau after a DSEJ press conference on August 16, in which she indicated students who exhibit homosexual tendencies should be referred to a psychiatrist for “clinical diagnosis”.

After a week in which Ms. Leong claimed the news reports had misquoted her and blamed a mistranslation from Cantonese, a recording of the statements confirmed the statements made by the DSEJ Director, who then held a press conference on Friday solely for Portuguese media in which she clarified she had confused homosexuality with gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria involves a conflict between a person’s physical gender and the gender with which he/she identifies with and is classified as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5).

During the clarification, Ms. Leong underlined that local schools do not interfere with students’ sexual orientation, with students only provided counselling to deal with any kind of distress

She also reiterated that “there is no discrimination” towards gender or sexual orientation in local schools.

However, Mr. Chao told MNA that awareness of LGBT inclusion in local schools is “low” and  questioned the grounds upon which DSEJ assured that there had been no cases of “conversion therapy” or attempts to induce a change of sexual orientation.

“Unless the DSEJ actively collects such data from all Macau schools, the DSEJ would not be able to assure the public that there had been [no attempts to change sexual orientation],” he argued.

Nevertheless, he hopes DSEJ can increase awareness in all Macau schools concerning sexual orientation discrimination, but noted that the “target of top priority for an awareness campaign is not the students but those who run the schools”.

In 2012, Mr Chao helped found the first pro-LGBT and sexual minority organisation Macau LGBT Rights Concern Group. The group organised the first Rainbow Equality Parade, and in 2013 was incorporated into the newly created Rainbow of Macau association.