Se-Ed apologises over anti-gay memo
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Se-Education yesterday sought to allay public outrage over a leaked internal document that appeared to discriminate against homosexuals.
“We apologise for any misunderstanding,” said Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, an executive at Se-Ed, a publisher and distributor of books and magazines.
The document was a short memo summarising the contents of a meeting. The brief summary distorted what was actually said at the meeting, Wiroj said.
The memo states: “Entries submitted for review by the publisher should not contain homosexual relationships.”
“In fact, our intention was to prevent pornographic content,” Wiroj explained. He said Se-Education had never had any policy that discriminated against people based on sexual orientation or that violated human rights.
“We would like to clear up any misunderstanding,” he said.
The short memo was sent to just six of Se-Education’s business partners, he said.
It was unclear how the memo was leaked to the public.
Wiroj said Se-Education now planned to include rating labels on books to allow people to make informed decisions when they make a purchase.
“We have received complaints of erotic content from parents. So we have tried to make the categories of books clear,” he said.
