Joko Widodo urged to stand up for LGBT rights after Indonesian government cracks down on ‘gay emoticons’ in messaging apps
Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia but is a sensitive issue in the Muslim-majority nation of more than 250 million people.
Human Rights Watch on Friday urged Indonesian President Joko Widodo to protect gay and lesbian rights, a day after his government told instant messaging apps to remove stickers featuring same-sex couples in the latest high-profile attempt to discourage visible homosexuality in the socially conservative country.
In a letter to the president, the New York-based group said the government should publicly condemn officials who make “grossly discriminatory remarks” against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. People of such sexuality are commonly known by the abbreviation LGBT.
The president has long championed pluralism and diversity. This is an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment
“President Jokowi should urgently condemn anti-LGBT remarks by officials before such rhetoric opens the door to more abuses,” said Graeme Reid, LGBT rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The president has long championed pluralism and diversity. This is an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment.”
A presidential spokesman said the government is still waiting for the original letter and cannot comment on it until it has seen the letter.
The government move against the instant messaging apps comes after a social media backlash against the popular smartphone messaging app Line for having stickers, which are an elaborate type of emoticon, with gay themes in its online store.
Information and Communication Ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu said on Thursday that social media and messaging platforms should drop stickers expressing support for the LGBT community.
“Social media must respect the culture and local wisdom of the country where they have large numbers of users,” he said.
