LGBT rights in Indonesia

The most active opposition against the recognition of LGBT rights in Indonesia has come from religious authorities and pressure-groups, especially Islamic organisations. Indonesian Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia or MUI) has made a statement, which stigmatised the LGBT population by declaring them "deviant" and an affront to the "dignity of Indonesia".[20]

In 2005, the Indonesian government gave Aceh Province the right to introduce Sharia Law, albeit only to Muslim residents. The northernmost province of Aceh proceeded to enact a sharia-based anti-homosexuality law that punishes anyone caught having gay sex with 100 lashes. The law was set for enforcement by the end of 2015.[24] Another example is the city of Palembang which introduced jail and fines for homosexual sex (though the laws are disbanded as of 2020.[25][26][27]) Under the law, homosexuality is defined as an act of "prostitution that violates the norms of common decency, religion, and legal norms as they apply to societal rule."[28] The following acts are defined as acts of prostitution: homosexual sex, lesbian sex, sodomy, sexual harassment and other pornographic acts.

In March 2015, Indonesian Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia or MUI) issued a fatwa, or religious edict, called for same-sex acts to be punished by caning, and in some instances, the death penalty.[20] The fatwa considers homosexuality a curable disease and says homosexual acts "must be heavily punished."[20]

Indonesian People's Representative Council (DPR) has dismissed the suggestion that the death penalty would be introduced for same-sex acts, citing that it is quite impossible to implement that policy in Indonesia. The DPR said that the MUI fatwa only serves as moral guidance to adherents, not as positive law, since legal power is only possessed by the state.[29]

In March 2016, the wake of surging anti-LGBT sentiments which started in early in 2016,parties like the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP) proposed an anti-LGBT bill to ban LGBT rights activism and criminalise LGBT behaviour.[30] Various politicians made statements against the LGBT community in following months that year.[31]

In late November 2016, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) tipped off police in Jakarta that there was a "sex party". The police then raided the gay gathering, charging the men with violating the national law against pornography, which is very broadly written.[32]

Part of a series on
LGBT topics
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
Sexual orientation and gender Aromanticism Asexuality Gray asexuality Biology Bisexuality Pansexuality Demographics Environment Gender fluidity Gender identity Gender role Gender variance Homosexuality Intersex Non-heterosexual Non-binary gender Queer Queer heterosexuality Questioning Sexual identity Sex–gender distinction Trans man Trans woman Transgender Transsexual Two-spirit
History General Timeline Same-sex marriage Homosexuality Movements Gay liberation Same-sex unions Stonewall riots Identities Lesbian Gay men Bisexuality Transgender Intersex
Culture Coming out Community African-American Dyke March Events Largest events Gay village Media Films New Queer Cinema Periodicals LGBT culture in New York City Pride Pride Month Parade Queer art QPR and QPP Same-sex relationship Slang Socialization Subcultures Symbols Flags Takatāpui Moe aikāne Tourism
Rights Adoption Civil union Intersex human rights Marriage Military service Parenting Rights by country or territory Transgender rights Yogyakarta Principles
Health MSM and Blood donation restrictions / HIV LGBT medical organizations Reproduction Transgender health care Youth suicide
Social attitudes Allonormativity Amatonormativity Cisnormativity Heteronormativity Mixed-orientation marriage Media portrayal Religion and homosexuality / trans people Sexual diversity Stereotypes
Issues Acephobia Arophobia AIDS stigma Anti-LGBT rhetoric Biphobia Bullying Censorship Closeted Outing Comphet Domestic violence Erasure Straightwashing Bisexual Lesbian Trans Gay bashing Gayphobia Heteropatriarchy Heterosexism Homophobia Liberal Intersex discrimination Lesbophobia LGBT youth Suicide Vulnerability Migration Racism Sexualism Transphobia Non-binary people Trans men Trans women Violence Trans people
Academic fields and discourse Communism and LGBT rights Gender studies Lesbian feminism Lavender linguistics LGBT conservatism Queer anarchism Queer studies Queer theory Social construction of gender Socialism and LGBT rights Transfeminism Transgender studies Travesti
LGBT portal

On 21 May 2017, police detained 144 people in a raid on a gay sauna, Atlantis Gym Jakarta.[33] The Indonesian Ulema Council made a statement that such activity is blasphemy against religion and an insult against Indonesian culture. "What kind of logic that able to accept this kind of sexual deviation, even animals are not gay. This is clearly not about equality," as stated by the Head of Law Department of MUI.[34] He made his remarks even though homosexuality has been observed in more than 1,500 animal species. Earlier in the same month, 14 men were arrested at a "gay party" in Surabaya.[35]

On 14 December 2017, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia issued a 5–4 ruling rejecting a petition by the conservative Family Love Alliance which sought to amend the Indonesian Criminal Code to make gay sex and sex outside of marriage illegal.[36] There were three articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) petitioned for review, namely article 248 on adultery, article 285 on rape, and article 292 on child abuse.[37] Under article 292 of the Criminal Code, child sexual abuse is a crime, both heterosexual or homosexual conducts. The petitioner sought to erase the term "underage" in article 292, in order to persecute all same-sex sexual conducts of all ages, including among consenting adults.[38] Which meant the petitioner sought to criminalise homosexuality. The court rejected to amend the law and held that the issue was a matter of the Indonesian legislature.[39]

Since January 2018, as part of revising the criminal code, lawmakers have been working on a criminal code draft.[40] Despite the international criticism and the human rights organisations fears, if passed, the law would criminalise consensual sex between two unmarried people, cohabitation, adultery and rape. It will also enable lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people to be taken to court for their sexual orientation.[41]

In late September 2019, the outgoing People's Representative Council's plan to pass the revised criminal code (RKUHP) was met with widespread student demonstrations on 23, 24 and 25 September 2019.[42] The revision of the Criminal Code (RKUHP) is increasingly discriminating against LGBT people. Article 421 (1) concerning obscenity explicitly mentions the same-sex acts: "Everyone who commits obscene acts against other people of the same sex in public is convicted with a maximum imprisonment of 1 year and six months or a maximum fine of category III." The explicit mention of "same sex" obscenity is feared triggering discriminatory treatment and will generate bylaws that particularly targeting LGBT people.[43] As the response on this widespread opposition, the government have either postponed or intercepted this controversial revised criminal code.[44]

In 2012, Yuli Retoblaut, a fifty-year-old transgender person and U.S. President Barack Obama's nanny for two years, publicly applied to be the head of the nation's National Commission on Human Rights.[65] The city of Yogyakarta has the only madrasa for transgender people in the world.[66] In January 2018, transgender women were arrested, stripped naked, had their heads shaved, and were publicly shamed in the province of Aceh.[67] Later in March, the Jakarta Social Agency declared waria to be socially dysfunctional. Sources reported that "the agency regularly conducted raids against transgender women". Detained trans individuals are taken by the agency to city-owned "rehabilitation" centres, where they are incarcerated, along with homeless people, beggars, and street buskers, and only released if documentation stating their lack of homelessness was received, and a statement is signed where the individual promises not to repeat their "offence". Officials have stated this is being done to create a deterrent against being transgender, and that continued violations will result in jail time.[68][69][70]

Since June 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs has conducted outreach efforts to issue transgender Indonesians with identification papers, including a Kartu Tanda Penduduk. Transgender residents of Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Lampung, and Papua have benefited so far. The stated reasoning was that many of them were undocumented, especially where their families did not approve of them (in Indonesia, the family register is an essential identification paper), leaving them without access to work or social services. The Ministry also stated that only the "male" and "female" sex descriptors would be recognized for the time being, with no option for a third gender / X designator, and that transgender Indonesians would have their gender at birth printed unless they had already obtained recognition from the courts.[71]

The Law Against Pornography and Pornoaction (2006) prohibits "…any writing or audio-visual presentation – including songs, poetry, films, paintings, and photographs that show or suggest sexual relations between persons of the same sex."[78] Those in violation of the law could be fined or sentenced to prison for up to seven years.[28] However, the media is now giving homosexuality more media coverage in Indonesia.[4]

In February 2016, the public discourse and debates on homosexuality and LGBT issues intensified with the occurrence of high-profile cases of alleged homosexual misconducts, involving Indonesian celebrities. First, an accusation of sexual approach and harassment by TV personality Indra Bekti upon several men. Followed by the case of dangdut singer Saiful Jamil, who has been named a suspect in a sexual assault involving an underage male fan.[79]

Until recently, the depiction of LGBT people was quite visible in Indonesian media, especially in television, with famous TV personalities, hosts, artist and celebrities with effeminate demeanour, or even cross-dressers were quite common in Indonesian television shows. However, after the alleged homosexual scandals involving Indonesian celebrities, in March 2016, the national broadcasting commission emphasised a policy banning TV and radio programs that make LGBT behaviour appear "normal", saying this was to protect children and teenagers who are "susceptible to imitating deviant LGBT behaviours".[8] This meant that broadcast companies, especially television stations, are discouraged from featuring effeminate figures, transgender people or cross-dressing in their programs, although such practices were previously quite common in Indonesian TV shows, especially TV variety shows and lawak (comedy) performances.[8]

Most of major political parties and politicians remain silent in the cause of LGBT rights. Islamist parties like Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and United Development Party (PPP) spoke strongly against LGBT rights and went further to propose a national bill to criminalise LGBT. In March 2016, PKS and PPP proposed an anti-LGBT bill to ban LGBT activism, and criminalise LGBT rights and behaviour.[30] National Mandate Party (PAN), despite sharing anti-LGBT right sentiments with PKS and PPP however, has asked people not to discriminate and harass the LGBT community. However, in return, the party also urged LGBT people not to promote LGBT rights in Indonesia.[80]

Currently, the only political party in Indonesia that has openly supported the LGBT rights movement is The Green Party of Indonesia.[81] However, in October 2016, President Joko Widodo stated that he is a defender of LGBT rights and that LGBT people should have the right not to be discriminated against.[82] Also, some politicians from the PDI-P (Party for the Indonesian Democracy Struggle) and the moderately conservative PKB (National Awakening Party) has sympathised support for LGBT rights.[28] PDI-P further stated that as a pluralist party, they could accept the existence of LGBT people. Despite holding that it is deviant behaviour, PDI-P has urged people to tolerate LGBT people and not extend hostile sentiments against them.[83]

Legal guidelines regarding HIV/AIDS do not exist, although AIDS is a significant problem in most countries in the region. Those infected with HIV traveling to Indonesia can be refused entry or threatened with quarantine. Due to the lack of sex education in Indonesian schools, there is little knowledge of the disease among the general population. Some organisations, however, do offer sex education, though they face open hostility from school authorities. At the beginning of the gay rights movement in Indonesia, LGBT organisations focused exclusively on health issues which led to the public believing that AIDS was a "gay disease" and led to LGBT people being stigmatised.[28]

Traditionally, Indonesians are quite tolerant towards LGBT people who keep quiet and stay discreet about their private lives.[92] However, this level of tolerance is not extended towards the LGBT rights movements, which has faced fierce condemnation in the public sphere from Indonesian authorities. A wave of anti-LGBT rhetoric began in January 2016 when Higher Education Minister Mohamad Nasir said LGBT people should be barred from university campuses.[8] The Minister called for a ban on gay groups on university campuses after a group of University of Indonesia (UI) students established a counselling and support group called the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC).[93] The group was meant as a counselling service, resource centre and support group on sexuality and gender issues, especially for LGBT youth and students, who often suffer from abuses, harassment, violence and discrimination regarding their gender and sexuality. SGRC sees LGBT people as human beings who need a friend and protection. The group, which sought to advocate for those who suffer from gender-based violence, explained that they do not "turn" or "encourage" people to be gay, nor had they tried to "cure" gay people.[94] Amid the heat of the issue, the University of Indonesia refused to be held responsible for SGRC's actions and announced the group was not an officially registered student organisation.[93] Another official pressured smartphone instant-messaging services to drop gay and lesbian-themed emoji, prompting one company to comply.[7]

Generally, religious authorities in Indonesia condemn homosexual acts and are fiercely against the LGBT rights movement. The most active opposition has come from majority-Islamic groups, with Majelis Ulama Indonesia, the country's top Muslim clerical body, calling for the criminalisation of homosexuality.[20] Other religious groups, such as Christianity and specifically Roman Catholicism, have expressed their rejection of LGBT rights in Indonesia. Indonesian Catholic authorities have reiterated that Catholicism does not recognise same-sex marriage but assured that, despite their perceived transgressions, LGBT people should be protected and not harmed.[95]

The Indonesia Psychiatric Association (PDSKJI) classifies homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism as mental disorders. Referring to Law No.18/2014 on Mental Health and the association's Mental Health and Mental Disorder Diagnostic Guidelines, the PDSKJI categorises homosexual and bisexual Indonesians as "people with psychiatric problems" and transgender people as having "mental disorders".[96]

Some military figures have used conspiracy theory rhetoric. Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu called the LGBT movement a "proxy war" to brainwash Indonesians, and claimed that it received "foreign funding",[8] pointing to funds from United Nations organisations like UNAIDS or Western governments and foundations.

There have been a few incidents of LGBT people being harassed. LGBT groups are now working on setting up safe houses and draw up evacuation plans in case of need. In Yogyakarta, in February 2016, 23 LGBT activists were roughed up by police, who told local media they stopped them from holding a rally to avoid a clash with a hardline Muslim group holding an anti-LGBT protest nearby.[8]

The chair of the People's Consultative Assembly, Zulkifli Hasan mentioned in a statement that, "As a movement, the existence of LGBT must be opposed. We must limit its room to move. However, as individual people, they must be protected like any other citizen.”[97] Anthropologist Sharyn Graham Davies commented that the main focus of this opposition was that sexual and gender diversity may be tolerated but as long as LGBT people remain invisible in the Indonesian society and did not form a visible movement.[98][99] On the other hand, amid fierce hostilities, some officials – including former Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and former Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan — have defended the LGBT community. "Whoever they are, wherever they work, he or she continues to be an Indonesian citizen. They have the right to be protected as well," Panjaitan said.[8] President Joko Widodo has also expressed support for LGBT rights and has called on an end to discrimination.[82]

In 2018, the city of Pariaman in Sumatra passed a public indecency law to fine its gay and transgender residents 1m Indonesian rupiah ($70) for disturbing "public order" by banning "acts that are considered LGBT" in public. The regulation forbids "immoral acts" between same-sex couples and prohibits residents from "acting as a transvestite" in public. Several cities in West Sumatra have taken steps to marginalise LGBT groups.[100][101]

In June 2019, the head of Indonesia's population and family planning agency Nofrijal has labelled LGBT citizens the "main enemy of national development".[102]