The LGBTQ+ Community in Indonesia

By: Amelia Cheng

Edited by: Fayza Rizkita Kania

The struggle for the rights of Indonesia’s LGBTQ+ Community has been long-standing and it always seems to be just out of reach. Even as the times have changed and progress has been made with significant evolution in the recognition and celebration of the community, many areas of the world appear to remain adamant in their retention of its past ideology, in fact declining in progressiveness on the LGBTQ+ front; one of which being Indonesia.

Before we dive into the tumultuous history and current relationship between the country and its LGBTQ+ Community, the first thing to address would be - who is the LGBTQ+ Community?

History of LGTBQ+

‘LGBTQ+’ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and more (for instance, asexual, intersex, pansexual, etc.) to describe persons. This is an umbrella term used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Throughout history, this topic has remained taboo, with anti-sentiments steered towards it by the vast majority.

However, major shifts have been seen in the rights of the LGTBQ+ Community around the world due to constant rallying and activism. Although the attitudes of people towards this topic have appeared to significantly shift, the division of acceptance across countries remains striking. As presented by the Pew Research Center, the Spring 2019 Global Attitudes survey indicated that although Western countries typically agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, some countries take a different stand, like Indonesia, where only a surveyed 9% agreed.

Indonesia’s Relationship with the LGBTQ+

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest Muslim-populated nations, with two provinces that prohibit same-sex sexual activities, namely Aceh, and South Sumatra. Additionally, the country does not recognise same-sex marriage. Although the country is declared a secular state, the country faces notable pressure from Islamic organisations that push for policies and actions driven by a homophobia-ridden agenda.

“In the last 3 years, there has been an increase in cases of data (of the persecution of the LGBT Community) each year,” says LGBT advocacy group Arus Pelangi based in Indonesia. They added that there were more than 90 such incidents in 2022, which was up by 90% from 2021.

Matters were made worse as on December 6th 2022, new provisions were passed within Indonesia’s criminal code which explicitly prohibited pre-marital sex and cohabitation by unmarried couples. This caused an uproar and immense backlash as it would unfairly target LGBTQ+ Communities and individuals. In fact, New York-based Human Rights Watch commented on how the provisions seriously violated human rights law and standards as it “will disproportionately impact LGBT people, who are more likely to be reported by families for relationships they disapprove of”.

On January 1st 2023, the mayor of the Indonesian city of Medan, Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution was enraged by the sight of gay couples celebrating New Year’s Eve together. He then publicly declared that “there is no LGBT in the city of Medan” and the city was undeniably “anti-LGBT”. Nasution additionally claimed that there “(wasn’t) a single ethnic group in Medan that supports same-sex relationships.”

In current times, there appears to be a significant increase in pressure on the community from conservative Islamic groups in the country. Just recently, organisers of the ASEAN Queer Advocacy Week relocated its meeting out of Indonesia after receiving numerous security threats. Originally, the meeting intended to bring together activists from Southeast Asia to address important issues and discuss advocacy. The main intention was to raise awareness and visibility of the rights violations and discrimination faced by LGBT people in Southeast Asia.

The volatile reaction by the masses within Indonesia seems to suggest largely contrasting opinions that leave the rights of the LGBTQ+ Community in constant debate.