As the large majority of LGBT Singaporeans spend their adolescent years in school, the well-being of LGBT adolescents and how this is impacted by the discourse and policies of educational and social institutions is an area of critical concern.
Bullying in schools[]
In two significant surveys of LGBT Singaporeans conducted in the last 3 years – the Homophobia and Transphobia Survey 2012 (HATS2012) and the National LGBT Census Singapore 2013 ( NLCS2013), the majority of LGBT persons report having experienced abuse or bullying on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity at some point while growing up – 60.2% of respondents and 56% of schooling respondents, respectively). These findings warrant serious attention on the part of educators. It is unfortunate that they have been met with a studied silence from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and other relevant government agencies.
Implications[]
The table on the right, taken from NLCS2013, starkly shows up the problem of LGBT bullying. LGBT adolescents are at a far higher risk of suffering from poor mental health and depression than their peers, and the pattern, once established, persists throughout the life course. Such mental states also place LGBT youth at greater risk of suicide – HATS2012 found that such abuse and discrimination led to a significantly higher incidence rate of having suicidal thoughts or attempts. Another community-led study found that between 56% and 60% of LGBT respondents suffered from homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools or in society.
Contributing Factors[]
LGBT bullying is most often the result of a lack of fair and accurate information about LGBT persons, as well as an institutional culture and discourse that condones such bullying. When sexual orientations and gender identities are not openly discussed at school, or discussed in a negative way, this leads to a lack of awareness of the issues faced by LGBT persons, and to the perpetuation of negative stereotypes.
These two issues are evident in MOE’s sexuality education curriculum. Commentators have previously pointed to serious deficits in the curriculum, which emphasises the criminality of gay behaviour rather than treating LGBT persons as full and lawful citizens. This position prevents school authorities from acknowledging the existence of LGBT bullying as well as providing support to LGBT students and teachers.
In 2009, a public controversy which erupted over the sexuality education curriculum led MOE to outsource sexuality education in mainstream schools to six providers, three of which are affiliated with churches that have publicly campaigned against the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Singapore.
MOE’s policies on this matter, however, are classified and thus opaque to scrutiny when playwright Alfian Sa'at was fired from a relief teaching position in 2007, his repeated queries failed to produce a clear answer as to whether his dismissal had been motivated by his criticism of the government or the LGBT content of some of his plays. This opacity and the resulting uncertainty about MOE's actual HR policies has resulted in a culture of fear and silence among LGBT teachers.
One school-sanctioned LGBT group for students was founded in Yale-NUS in 2013. The G-Spot, which involves its students in advocacy, research and education regarding feminism, gender and sexuality issues, successfully organised an Ally Week in 2015 , and forms an instructive example of what is possible for other schools interested in creating safe spaces for their LGBT students.
While other university groups exist, they do not receive the same level of institutional support as G-Spot. In a joint letter to the press, the groups note that ‘school administrators should ensure that our schools are not only world class in research and teaching but also safe and affirmative for all students.’
Incidents[]
Bullying of LGBT students in schools has been documented on many occasions. However, even though the Ministry of Education has an idea of the incidence and prevalence of bullying, it does not track how many of these are due to homophobia and transphobia. Teachers are generally not allowed to express any form of positivity towards the topic of homosexuality. They are also discouraged from coming out as LGBT to their students.
On 4 May 2009, The New Paper ran an article which reported on the public caning of three Secondary 3 students out of a group of eight bullies in front of Secondary 1, 2 and 3 students on 20 April 2009[1]. The three boys had landed themselves in trouble for taunting, mocking and intimidating a Secondary 1 boy from the same school. The three older boys had picked on the junior one 'because of his (the younger boy's) voice.' Even though the principal claimed that the bullied boy was unhurt, some students reported that the victim was 'physically handled' by the seniors, while others said it was 'more serious than that'.
On 11 May 2009, teacher Lisa Li posted a casual note on her personal Facebook page, 'I teach General Paper, not homosexuality', in support of critical thinking and reasoned discussion in General Paper. To her knowledge, what she wrote was based on reason and anyone who disagreed with her logic, facts or opinions could easily have rebutted her openly. In fact, she was pleasantly surprised that the note generated a healthy, thoughtful debate of almost 100 comments in barely two days. Two days later, she received word that someone had taken her Facebook note to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and complained about it. As a result, she had to remove that note[2].
On 22 February 2014, a female alumnus from a local secondary school wrote an open letter to the Ministry of Education and Health Promotion Board describing her ordeal at the hands of parents and school authorities after they found out she was having a romantic same-sex relationship with a classmate. The bullying the pair experienced left them so physically and psychologically traumatised that they planned to commit suicide out of despair[3].
Documentary[]
On 30 April 2022, CNA Insider uploaded to its YouTube channel, the first of a two-part documentary entitled, "Why Children And Teenagers Struggle With Mental Health | Confronting Youth Mental Health"[4]. The impetus for producing the series was that in 2020, the incidence of suicide among those aged 10 to 19 jumped 37.5% from the year before, as Singapore recorded its highest number of deaths by suicide since 2012. A study published in the ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry also revealed that between 2013 and 2018, the number of youths aged 10-24 diagnosed with depression increased four fold - a more rapid increase than other age groups. CNA Insider reached out to youths grappling with mental health who shared candidly about their struggles with anxiety, depression, self-harm and trauma, and explored why mental health problems commonly occurred in young people, and why the journey of finding help and healing may not be easy. The video, produced in partnership with Temasek Foundation and supported by the Institute of Mental Health, contained a segment entitled, "Conflict with sexuality and identity: Minority stress"[5]:
Policy on gay teachers[]
- See also: Otto Fong
The Ministry of Education discourages gay teachers from coming out to their students because of the irrational fear that they may influence them to become homosexual. Teachers are also dissuaded from giving LGBT-supportive advice in their classes. As such, pupils, both gay and straight, have no positive LGBT role models to look up to as their identities are intentionally erased by the system. Nor do they have a sympathetic listening ear to rely on when burdened by emotional issues brought about by their sexual orientation. Queer students never feel represented in their schools' leadership. This lack of representation and visibility fosters the continued acceptance of negative stereotypes that they hear from their peers and educators.
On Saturday, 8 September 2007, while Otto Fong was working as a science teacher at Raffles Institution (RI), one of Singapore's top high schools for boys, he published a 2000-word open letter on his blog. In the post, he called for greater acceptance of gay people by society, citing fellow RI alumnus, then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's remarks questioning Singapore's anti-gay sex laws and PAP MP Baey Yam Keng's public statement supporting the repeal of Section 377A as his reasons for coming out in his blog meant to be read by his RI colleagues.
The then 38-year-old, who had been teaching at the school for eight years, was inspired to reassess his responsibility beyond academia to his students after attending a forum in August 2007 where several young adults questioned the little guidance available to them as gay teenagers. Fong wrote of his first being aware of his attraction towards classmates of the same sex in primary six and the denial of his homosexuality until his university years when he sought counselling to accept himself for who he is.
Fong's coming out to the public as a gay teacher created a huge stir and elicited front page news reports in the local English as well as Chinese-language tabloids. Over 120 messages posted on his blog by present and former students praised him for his courage in taking a stand and being a inspiring educator. However, under pressure from the Ministry of Education, the entire post including comments was deleted two days later and replaced with, "I wrote this blog for my colleagues and some friends, so that is done. While I am grateful for your generosity, I must remain true to my original intent."
In a statement, the Ministry of Education said it "does not condone any open espousal of homosexual values by teachers in any form" as "teachers are in a unique position of authority" and "are often seen as role models by their students. The school has spoken to the teacher concerned and the teacher has agreed to take down his blog in the best interest of the students. The Ministry supports the action taken by the school on this matter."
Sex education[]
- See also: Hwa Chong anti-gay sex ed saga
In late October 2019, 17-year-old student Tay Yi Ting (better known as Elijah Tay) expressed disappointment that the sexuality education curriculum offered at school “simply ignores the existence of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people”[6]. Recalling a lesson where a handout was given to students which appeared to suggest that the topic of LGBT relationships would be discussed, Tay said that “the term LGBT was never brought up in this hour of class. Queer relationships and people were barely a talking point either”. Tay recalled that definitions for the terms “homosexuality”, “bisexuality” and “heterosexuality”, which were listed in the handout, were not explicitly given. Instead, the teacher implied that homosexuality and bisexuality were “phases” that one would eventually “get over”.
See also[]
- Discrimination against homosexuals in Singapore
- Discrimination against transgender people in Singapore
References[]
- Shinen Wong, "F*ggot f*ggot f*ggot!", Fridae, 10 October 2008[7].
- https://www.hcamag.com/asia/news/general/why-singapore-workplaces-need-to-be-gay-friendly/142734
- https://www.ricemedia.co/feature-storytellers-miseducation-singapore-queer-youth/
Acknowledgements[]
This article was written by Roy Tan.