Warning: This article is about suicide and may be distressing for some readers.
A Myanmar librarian died by suicide on Sunday (June 23) after being subjected to homophobic bullying at his workplace.
Kyaw Zin Win, 26, who had been working at Yangon’s Myanmar Imperial University for more than one and a half years, shared a final post on Facebook before he took his own life.
The post included a homophobic comment left by a library user that was purposely shown to Kyaw Zin Win by his colleague. It also included screenshots from the messaging app Viber of his co-workers mocking him.
Addressing another staff member, one colleague wrote: “We should send him to the army like you said.”
Kyaw Zin Win, who had been sent hateful messages from anonymous numbers, also revealed that a colleague forced him to admit he was gay once other staff had left a meeting.
“I bear it patiently, wishing it would end soon,” he wrote next to a screenshot of abuse he had received.
He criticised Myanmar for being a “country of people with two faces” where you could not talk truth to authority.
He was “terrified of the people” and could no longer bear the bullying. Forgive me and remember me, he wrote to his family.
“I love you guys,” he wrote to his friends.
Facebook users today have been changing their profile photos to black circled with rainbow colours in memory of the librarian. They are demanding his co-workers and Myanmar Imperial University be held accountable.
The university posted on its Facebook page that “we, Ko Phyo Maung and Ma Poh, founders of MIU, university council and staff are very sorry about the tragic event.”
The founders offered assistance to Kyaw Zin Win’s family and would “analyse the case” to check staff rules and regulations, stated the post.
“Sorry cannot bring a person’s life back,” replied one Facebook user. “Being one of the leading institutions in Myanmar, you should set an example/standard to the society in managing this crisis. And obviously, saying sorry and telling vaguely that you will take action are not enough.”
The death of Kyaw Zin Win has raised concerns about the situations LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people in Myanmar can encounter at their workplaces.
Discrimination against the LGBT community remains widespread in the country, where many believe being born LGBT is punishment for sins committed in a past life.
Gay characters in mainstream films are ridiculed and stereotyped; many of them decide to become straight at the end of the movie, feeding the notion that being LGBT is a choice.
Article 377 of the colonial-era Penal Code outlaws homosexual sex, forbidding ““carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Although rarely enforced, the article is still used to harass and persecute LGBT people.
Last night, deputy director of LGBT rights group Colors Rainbow, Hla Myat Tun, told an audience during an LGBT documentary screening at the American Center of a local gay man who had taken his own life in the face of homophobic abuse. An hour later, he was “saddened and shocked” to hear of Kyaw Zin Win’s death.
“It’s a very common story in the workplace,” he told Myanmar Mix this morning. “Even though people do not know what the law says, they think being homosexual is wrong. It’s something they really bully and discriminate against.
“We have to get rid of [Article 377] to promote equality among the people of Myanmar. The policy makers and members of parliament should have political will on homophobic issues.”
Additional reporting by Lorcan Lovett
Where to get help
If you or someone else is facing a similar kind of discrimination in Myanmar, you can contact for support:
Colors Rainbow on 09 400447181 or message via their Facebook page.
Or message &Proud via their Facebook page.
