Queer student was beaten at school

Alex Shah, an 11th-grade student from School Number 225, was beaten on the first floor of the school. The student himself informed Minority Azerbaijan about this incident.

According to their words, they have been subjected to systematic bullying and harassment by both students and the teaching staff at the school for several years because they do not conform to gender roles at the school. Despite a previous complaint that resulted in disciplinary action against the teacher responsible, the harassment continued, leading them to stay away from school for a while.

On September 27th, only their second day back at school, Alex was attacked by a 10th-grade student on the first floor, and as a result, they were thrown to the ground. They were then subjected to physical blows and dragged along the ground. Alex stated that they were only able to escape further harm due to the intervention of other individuals.

The school's director and deputy director came to the classroom where the incident occurred and listened to Alex' account of what had happened. According to Alex, they were accused by certain organisations of deliberately inflating the events to earn money by posting material on certain websites.

"They told me that I couldn't stand up to 1,500 students and fight against bullying myself. They claimed that I was intentionally provoking people and causing these incidents. Director Sevda Eminova, daughter of Ali, demanded that I drop the matter and not make it public," Alex reported.

The student mentioned that they cannot file a complaint with the Ministry of Education and Science because, based on a previous complaint, the school received a visit from an official representative who stated that there was no mention of "sexual orientation" in the law and therefore they could not protect them. The representative also emphasised that the school should not promote any ideology and must conform to societal norms.

Alex said that they will not return to school due to safety concerns and that they seek help from the public to raise awareness about this issue.