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USU students sue rector over censorship of lesbian story
"These are smart students, very courageous. They clearly stated that Runtung Sitepu had breached not only LGBT rights but also academic freedom, press freedom and freedom of association."
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Students rally in protest at the shutting down of the 'Suara USU' student magazine in March this year in North Sumatra University (USU) in Medan, North Sumatra. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
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North Sumatra University (USU) student has filed a lawsuit against her rector after the state university shut down its student magazine for publishing a short story about a lesbian's unrequited love.
The head of Suara USU, Yael Stefani Sinaga, filed the lawsuit, in conjunction with her student colleagues on Suara USU’s editorial board, with the Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) on July 5, demanding the rector revoke the dismissal of all 18 students from the board in March.
The first hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14.
The rector, Runtung Sitepu, dismissed the students after the magazine’s website published a lesbian-themed short story titled “Ketika Semua Menolak Kehadiran Diriku di Dekatnya” (When Everyone Opposes Me Being Near Her).
The story was promoted on March 18 through Suara USU’s social media account and went viral not long after.
Yael, who is also the author of the story, said she wrote the story to fight discrimination against minority groups including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and the lesbian characters in the story were only examples of such groups.
The rector wanted the short story to be taken down from the website and all of Suara USU’s social media accounts but the Suara USU editorial board refused to carry out the instruction, which resulted in its disbandment.
