Things for LGBT+ people in Indonesia are going from bad to worse after nine men arrested in Jakarta are arrested for what the police are calling a “gay party”.
Nine men have been arrested in Indonesia after police say they were holding a “gay party”, this is despite that homosexuality is not illegal except in the Aceh region. There were apparently 12 men at the party, nine of them were detained as the “organisers”.
The nine were charged under article 296 of the Criminal Code Law that says “Any person who commits or facilitates obscene act with another person, shall be punished by a maximum one year and four months imprisonment and a maximum fine of IDR15.000″
The police also charged them with article 33 in conjunction with article 7 and or article 36 in conjunction with article 10 of the Pornography Law.
Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid says that there is no legal justification for criminalising these men and that raids like these were sending “a terrifying message to LGBTI people”.
In a statement, Hamind said, “There is no legal justification for criminalising the behaviour these men are accused of. Such a gathering would pose no threat to anyone. The authorities are being discriminatory and violating the human rights to privacy and family life, freedom of expression, and the freedom of assembly and association.
“Raids like these send a terrifying message to LGBTI people. We call on the authorities to release all people arrested in the party and drop all charges against them. They must also stop these arbitrary and humiliating raids and stop misusing laws against loitering or public nuisance to harass and arrest people accused of same-sex activity.
“No one should be targeted and arrested because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. The police should be keeping everyone safe, not stoking more discrimination.”
Homosexuality is not illegal, but authorities are finding other ways to criminalise gay people
Consensual same-sex relations are not crimes under the Indonesian Criminal Code. However, the Pornography Law has been widely applied and doesn’t relate to any of the actions or behaviours actually carried out by the people arrested or harassed under this law.
In Indonesia, LGBTI people are frequently harassed, intimidated, criminalized, and even killed, simply because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, according to Amnesty International.
Increase intimidation and attacks
In the last few years, intimidation, attacks and discrimination against LGBT+ people in Indonesia has increased after several public officials made inaccurate or misleading statements on the grounds of “defending the country’s public morality and public security.”
The mayor of Depok city, in Indonesia, has demanded that police raid the LGBT+ community, to “stop the spread” of LGBT+ people.
Depok City is the hometown of the convicted serial rapist, Reynhard Sinaga and it is thought that the mayor has ordered the crackdown on LGBT+ people following the high profile court case, which saw Sinaga banged up for a minimum of 30 years.
According to Amnesty International, Mohammad Idris, the mayor of the city of Depok in West Java, asked municipal police to search rented residencies in order to stop what he called “immoral” acts.
Idris is part of the Prosperous Justice Party, an Islam-based political party in Indonesia, which has a political affiliation with the right-wing Muslim Brotherhood organisation.
He labelled his crackdown a “prevention toward the spread of LGBTI” in the city, saying he had called for the raids in the wake of global media interest in Sinaga’s case.
Sinaga was convicted of multiple rapes and sexual assaults and is currently serving a 30-year sentence in the UK.
Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia’s Executive Director, said,
“This latest vicious campaign against LGBTI people must stop.
“Same-sex relations are protected under international law and there can be no justification for these hateful raids.
“Criminalisation of homosexuality is discriminatory and violates the rights to private and family life, freedom of expression, and the freedom of assembly and association.
“The authorities in Indonesia repeatedly launch humiliating crackdowns on suspected same-sex activity, and misuse laws against loitering or public nuisance to harass and arrest LGBTI people.
“The Indonesian government should also repeal all laws that criminalise specific gender identities and expressions.”
Indonesia’s LGBT Crackdown
In recent years, LGBTI communities in Indonesia have faced increasing crackdowns from the authorities.
In 2018, police in Padang, West Sumatra, arrested ten women and accused them of same-sex relations after one of them posted a photo of her kissing and hugging another woman on Facebook. In the same year in the neighbouring province of Lampung, local police raided a beach and arrested three people who they suspected of being transgender women in an operation said to “provide safety and maintain public order” in the city. And in October 2018, West Java Police arrested two men for administering a Facebook group called “Facebook Gay Bandung Indonesia”, which has a total of 4,093 members.
Sharia Law?
Recently there has been a crackdown on homosexuality and transgender people, particularly in the Aceh Province, which uses Sharia law to govern its people, Sharia law outlaws same-sex sexual activity.
There have also been reports where there have been raids on gay men in the Country’s capital city, Jarkata. In May 2017, dozens of men were arrested for allegedly attending a party at a sauna. Police raided the venue and captured 144 men, under broad pornography laws. The broadly written rules have been used to target the gay community in the past unfairly.
It is illegal to display any form of same-sex relations in several destinations and in extreme cases you could be arrested or sentenced to death. If you are part of the LGBT community, it is critical for you to be wary of such destinations when making travel plans. Ending up in a foreign jail doesn’t sound so pleasant. If your next holiday wish is around Asia, then you are in luck. There are several LGBT-friendly zones where you can enjoy the best vacay with your partner. Find the list below:
When Japan comes to mind, a traditional religious country flashes through my brain. Despite being a robust spiritual state under Shintoism, they don’t oppose any form of gay sexual activity. If asked, I would even say they commend it. A recent poll indicated that 54% of the citizens believe that people should be free to associate with whoever they want to sexually. Maybe the people are so open-minded because their forefathers practised it. In fact, in the 11th-century men would take other male lovers and sign brotherhood contracts for exclusivity. With the belief rooted in so deep, it is safe to conclude that Japan has been safe for the LGBT community for a while. It’s only a matter of time before political parties rise to create supportive laws.
Being gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual is fully allowed in Cambodia. Everyone is permitted to have whichever sexual orientation and any sexual activity is permitted as long as both parties are consenting adults. They even have a traditional Khmer culture, which, tends to support gay people within the community. The culture recognises the male and female as equals under the term, (kteuy), and, also has a provision for a third gender in between (the Thai katoey).
In the year 2004, King Sihanouk publicly announced that he was impressed with same-sex marriages in San Francisco and would be willing to replicate the same laws in his country. Since then, several gay pride walks have been peacefully held. You can visit Cambodia almost any time of the year as the weather is nearly always perfect. However, we have to warn you that you may not want to leave this little heaven.
Before the year 2001, homosexuality was listed under types of mental illnesses in China. The LGBT community has similar legal rights as of other people with different sexual orientations. They are only allowed to practice any sexual activities in private as are the other people.
Similar to Japan, China has traces of homosexuality dating centuries back. In 1840, many emperors were believed to have had sexual relationships with the same-sex partners. This was way before the Western influence. The gay scene in China today is growing tremendously, with clubs, bars and saunas opening every other day. This is one excellent vacation stop to put on your bucket list.
As much as Indonesia is predominantly a strict Muslim region, Bali does not comply with the rules of the state. Bali feels like an entirely different state. The people there are free-spirited as they embrace all types of people regardless of their religion, sexual orientation, class, age or race.
Perhaps, being a top destination spot with tourists from every part of the world has forced the people there to embrace this new culture.
There are a bunch of gay clubs, the landscapes are breath-taking, the ocean is beautiful, and it is one of the best most affordable destinations in the world. A Bali vacation is always a good idea.
If you are gay and you are planning a vacation with your partner, you probably want a destination where no one will bat an eyelid if you hold hands. Phuket is the place for you. The rest of Thailand, however, is not so gay-friendly, there have been instances where gay tourists have been victims of assault from residents. In Asia most states are like this; part LGBT-friendly, part LGBT-hostile.
In Phuket, you will be completely safe. There is also an infamous Bangla Road, where gay pride walks, gay parties, and sex shows are popular. Make this your next holiday stop and you will not regret it.
Manila is completely LGBT-friendly. The most surprising thing is that the Philippines state is entirely religious. It is a traditional Catholic state, but we are lucky this doesn’t translate into oppression. The people there are very open-minded, I would say.
They accept people for who they are without being judgmental. The place is also very affordable, the flights, hotels, restaurants, and activities. In addition to all this, the scenery is spectacular, food exquisitely mouth-watering and it has an abundance of things to do.
We can’t leave out the most recent country in Asia to ban sexual discrimination against sexual orientation. Taiwan despite its political controversies with China claiming it as its own, is the safest place for the LGBT community. They have a Taiwan gay pride, which is held annually in October and tourists from all over the world attend. Last year alone, it had over 120,000 event attendants. This is one of the most liberal countries in Asia with an overflow of activities for the LGBT community. Now you can start packing!
The other Asian countries that are taking great steps towards accepting the LGBT community are Vietnam, South Korea, Nepal and Israel among others. We hope soon more and more states adopt the same attitude towards LGBT+ people.
You should steer clear off Bangladesh where same-sex sexual activities are punishable by life imprisonment. Bhutan and Pakistan also criminalise same-sex sexual relationships. The worst is the Maldives where a guilty individual could be punished by death. Now you know where to go when planning your next vacay. May you and your partner have the best vacation!
Across the globe, there are over 70 countries where being gay or having sex with someone of the same sex is illegal. There are a few places where you might expect same-sex relationships to be against the law. Nevertheless, we’ve found a few surprising exceptions.
Many of the world’s anti-gay countries tend to be in Arabic regions, eastern Asia and central Africa, however, we’ve found some surprises in and amongst the homophobic countries where it’s legal to have a same-sex relationship. Although homosexuality may be legal in these nations it mustn’t be inferred that LGBT+ people do not face discrimination due to their sexuality or gender expression.
Despite being in the centre of one of the most homophobic and anti-gay regions of the world, it’s not illegal to be gay in the majority of Iraq. Same-sex relationships became legal in 2003. However, it is worth noting that despite the legality of sexual intercourse between men it was illegal in areas controlled by ISIS between 2014 – 2017. There were manyreports of executions of gay men, or men thought to be gay by ISIS fighters during 2015 and 2016.
LGBT+ people are subject to widespread discrimination and have no legal recognition of their relationships and are banned from serving in the military.
Homosexuality was not always illegal in Iraq during the Ancient Mesopotamia times (3500 BC) the Šumma ālu, an Akkadian tablet, includes this code, where it regarded male homosexuality positively, even stating,
“If a man copulates with his equal from the rear, he becomes the leader among his peers and brothers”
Nevertheless, when the land came under British administration, the country was given a ban on sodomy.
Authorities in Indonesia’s strictest Province, Aceh are to stop whipping gay men in public after an international outcry.
CREDIT: ErikaWittlieb / Pixabay
Whipping in public is a common punishment for a variety of crimes, including being gay, but officials in Aceh, the Muslim-Majority province of Indonesia, have decided to stop the cruel punishment from being done in public AFP reports. Instead, the punishment will be handed out behind prison walls.
The ultra-religious area, the only place in Indonesia that follows Islamic law, has attracted international criticism after people accused of being gay or having same-sex relationships were lashed in public. Now, those found guilty of the crime of being gay, will be whipped, behind closed doors.
Only journalists and adults will be able to watch the punishment, and it will be against regulations for the penalty to be filmed.
Aceh is the strictest place in Indonesia and punishes people for being gay. Indonesia (C) Sateda : Depositphotos
Indonesians could be jailed for criticising national politicians under a new law which came into force Thursday, in what critics slammed as a major step back for the world’s third-biggest democracy. The vaguely worded bill passed the 560-member house last month but has just become official, over the objections of President Joko Widodo who refused to sign off on the controversial legislation. (more…)
Tumblr, a free blogging tool, has been blocked by authorities in Indonesia.
The platform, which is widely used by some in the LGBT+ community has been blocked in Indonesia. The government had demanded that Tumblr delete all pornographic content on the site within 48 hours or be blocked by officials.
It is the latest crackdown which will undoubtedly throttle free speech and LGBT+ equality in the country. The country enacted a strict anti-porn law in 2014 banning anything it considers obscene.
The site has around 400 million blogs hosted on it.
Ministry spokesman Noor Iza told AFP, “After investigating, we found at least 360 Tumblr accounts contained pornographic content”.
The ministry said it would allow access again when Tumblr capitulated to the Government’s demands.
Indonesia must clamp down on rising intolerance against the LGBT community, the UN human rights chief warned Wednesday, as the persecuted minority face a wave of arrests and parliament moves to ban gay sex. (more…)
Indonesian police said Sunday they would press ahead with an investigation into officers accused of publicly shaming transgender people in conservative Aceh province despite an angry protest against the probe. (more…)
Despite homosexuality not being illegal in Indonesia, recent events have shown that it is not an entirely safe place for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people to visit.
Strictly speaking, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia. However, the country does have a very conservative view on same-sex sexual acts.
Recently there has been a crackdown on homosexuality and transgender people, particularly in the Aceh Province, which uses Sharia law to govern its people, Sharia law outlaws same-sex sexual activity.
There have also been reports where there have been raids on gay men in the Country’s capital city, Jarkata. In May 2017, dozens of men were arrested for allegedly attending a party at a sauna. Police raided the venue and captured 144 men, under broad pornography laws. The broadly written rules have been used to target the gay community in the past unfairly.
THEGAYUK.com cannot, at this time recommend that anyone who identifies as LGBT+ travel to Indonesia for the foreseeable future. However, if you do visit, we recommend that you do not use gay saunas, which could be targetted by law enforcement officials. If you are travelling to Aceh province, you should refrain from public displays of affection with a same-sex partner.
A YouTube video posted Sunday showed Indonesia’s North Aceh Police Chief Untung Sangaji denounce transgender people. … and extramarital sex. Reza, an LGBT activist, who asked for his real name to be concealed told Guardian, “A lot of the salons have closed because of rumors that fundamentalists will raid them after Friday prayers … (more…)
