Malaysia’s Education Ministry has plans to introduce a so-called ‘Social and Reproductive Health Education’ program in schools to warn children about what it terms the ‘dangers and threats’ of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

‘In the past, sex education was taught indirectly through other subjects, but now the government feels that [Social and Reproductive Health Education] needs to be a special subject to tackle the rise in social problems among teens,’ said Deputy Health Minister Dr Puad Zarkashi on July 5.

“We cannot wait longer to implement this because according to our studies, many teens in the country do not know the function and importance of healthy interaction among guys and girls.’

Zarkashi said the program would begin in primary or lower secondary school.

The announcement follows statements by the country’s Deputy Minister in its Prime Minister Department, Mashitah Ibrahim, that the country would reign in what he said was the spread of LGBT people in the country.

Ibrahim said these would be done with the help of Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department and State Religious Department.

‘A series of rehabilitation and treatment courses will … be given to Muslims who have deviated from societal norms, while [the Departments] have conducted a program with repented transsexuals to obtain positive feedback from them,’ Ibrahim said, adding that sex outside of marriage, homosexuality and same-sex marriage were all banned in Malaysia.