Cameroon: Two school girls lose their right to education because of a lesbian love note
After their teacher intercepted a text message, both girls were expelled
By Steeves Winner
Two weeks ago, two 17-year-old girls were outed as lesbians and immediately expelled from the Catholic high school they attended in Mbalmayo, Cameroon.
Aby and Samira (pseudonyms for their protection) were top-ranked students in their senior year when a teacher spotted a text message in which Samira expressed her love for Aby.
The incident occurred in class on Nov. 15. As the teacher was explaining the lesson, Samira sent a lesbian love note by phone to her friend, although cell phones are not allowed at the school.
When the message arrived, the teacher was near Aby, heard the alert, and grabbed the phone. She read the message on the screen: “I love you ABY and I can’t wait until we meet again this evening to make love to you with honey.”
Because of that message, the two girls were brought before the school’s disciplinary council, which quickly decided to expel them on grounds of homosexuality.
When their families learned what had happened, both girls were violently abused. Samira’s father, a practicing Muslim, threw his daughter out of the family home. She now lives with an acquaintance who agreed to shelter her.
At present, neither girl can continue her education because both sets of parents have refused to pay anything further for the girls’ schooling.
Steeves Winner, the author of this article, is a Cameroonian journalist who writes under a pseudonym. Contact him at steeves.w@yahoo.com.
