Indonesian LGBT groups set up safehouses as ‘cacophony of hatred’ reaches fever pitch
The national broadcasting commission reiterated a policy banning TV and radio programmes that make LGBT behaviour appear “normal”, saying this was to protect children and teenagers who are “susceptible to duplicating deviant LGBT behaviours”.
LGBT activists, facing a barrage of homophobia and hate speech by Indonesian authorities, are setting up hotlines and safehouses, while “unfriending” people on social media and deleting website directories that could expose them to violence.
Indonesia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights groups have been active for decades and have come under attack before, but usually only for one or two days at a time. This time, the anti-LGBT rhetoric began about two months ago, say activists who describe a community living in fear.
“This is the first time it’s actually lasted this long,” said Dede Oetomo, a prominent activist who founded one of the country’s oldest LGBT rights groups, Gaya Nusantara, in 1987.
We are supposed to be a danger to survival of the nation. It’s getting ridiculous in a way. It sounds like a little war
Oetomo said the attacks began in January when Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said LGBT people should be barred from university campuses, and have continued on an almost daily basis.
The national broadcasting commission reiterated a policy banning TV and radio programmes that make LGBT behaviour appear “normal”, saying this was to protect children and teenagers who are “susceptible to duplicating deviant LGBT behaviours”.
The Indonesia Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism as mental disorders, while Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu called the LGBT movement a “proxy war” to brainwash Indonesians.
Critics say LGBT groups receive “foreign funding”, which is true if one looks at funds from United Nations organisations like Unaids or Western governments and foundations, Oetomo said.