Three days after the protests against discrimination of LGBT students outside of the Ministry of Education (MOE) building culminated in three people being arrested for holding and participating in a public assembly without a permit, several of the activists involved took to Facebook to thank everyone who stood by them.
Student activist Lune Loh said in a post on early Friday morning (29 Jan), “A big thank you to our friends, family, and strangers (many who have since become friends!) who have supported us + the Trans community, expressed solidarity against Trans discrimination, and in helping us to continually keep MOE accountable for their institutional policies and decisions.”
Ms Loh went on to elaborate on the issue at hand, noting that “violence does not necessarily manifest itself in the form of obvious bloodshed and physical pain” as a lot of it is “structural”.
These kinds of structural violence include “the histories of scarred/inscribed/coded bodies forced into societal boxes, the suffering that is derived from sexual difference, the surveillance and trauma from disciplinary mechanisms,” she wrote.
Ms Loh also stressed the need for alternatives to be “put in place”, adding that politics has always been the canvas for which action and change is made possible.
She concluded her post saying, “The struggle continues, and no one Trans sibling should be left behind. #FixSchoolsNotStudents”
Another activist, Kokila Annamalai, also expressed her gratitude on Facebook for the support, concern, and kindness the group has received in the past few days, as well as the support in standing with them against transphobia.
Emphasising that trans and queer students deserve a school environment that is safe and supportive in order for them to thrive, feel cared for, and celebrated, Ms Annamalai called on the MOE to “show moral courage” in being accountable to those that its “policies and schools have hurt, and act urgently to remedy these harms”.
“We cannot lose any more student lives to abuses meted out or enabled by those whose duty it is to protect them,” she stressed.
Ms Annamalai went on to highlight several “remarkable groups” – like TransBefrienders – that are organising education support for trans students who faced discrimination and bullying in schools which have caused them to drop out and take national exams privately instead.
“When groups with such little resources are doing everything they can to care for vulnerable young people, there is no excuse why MOE schools cannot work with trans students and their communities to do the same,” she chided.
Ms Annamalai also encouraged members of the public to offer financial and tutoring support to TransBefrienders and other trans and queer groups in Singapore.
She then reiterated the importance of rallying together to challenge harmful policies, and model the practices that they are urging the Government to adopt.
“Our anger, when rooted in love, will be a force not just to resist oppression, but to manifest a different, tender and beautiful world,” Ms Annamalai concluded, also employing the rallying hashtag #FixSchoolsNotStudents in her post.
On Tuesday evening (26 Jan), a group of students and supporters assembled outside the MOE building to protest discrimination against LGBT students, particularly in light of the case of an 18-year-old junior college student who claimed that the Ministry had interfered with her hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
In a public statement, the group called on Education Minister Lawrence Wong to “end discrimination against LGBTQ+ students by MOE schools, so as to uphold the fundamental right of all students to education within a safe and supportive school life”.
