Contributor:
Dédé Oetomo
Trustee, GAYa NUSANTARA
Former Chair, APCOM (2013-2021)

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Constant Violations of Rights

Continuing the trend of adverse condition for LGBTIQ+ rights in Indonesia, which most people date to the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016, this year LGBTIQ+ people and communities still face constant violations of our rights.

Just about every day there is verbal violence from politicians, government bureaucrats, military and police officers, conservative religious leaders, and even some medical and psychological practitioners expressed against or about “LGBT” people. We are labeled as sinners, deviants, child molesters, and by some military commanders as more dangerous than nuclear warfare, since we are a threat to the nation’s sustainability.

Less frequently but more devastating are actual dishonorable discharges in the military and police as well as the civil bureaucracy, and some blatant discriminatory regulations at educational and religious institutions. A case in point is the interview process of the state-funded postgraduate scholarships, in which some interviewers directly ask applicants about their opinion on such matters as gender equality. When applicants answer that it is a good principle, they can be disqualified for being “liberal”, and some are even reprimanded for having such values.

At the community activist and organization level, events and gatherings have to be conducted underground, lest they be disturbed by vigilantes or government personnel itself. This has been so since even earlier than the 2015-2016 wave of queer- and transphobia mentioned earlier. The vibrant Q! Film Festival, for instance, which lasted for a little over a decade, had to be stopped since there were major threats to organizers and venues, including foreign cultural centers. During the last years of the festival, some screenings and discussions had to be disguised as a university lecture, but at many universities objective discussions on gender-sexual diversity have become almost impossible. University administrators are threatened by conservative Islamic clerics, and if they ignore the threats, they may not be elected administrators in the next round.

This is where the police are virtually useless as protectors of human rights. They may even disrupt the event and order it to stop. As a matter of fact, increasingly disruptions on events or gatherings by minorities such as LGBTIQ+ people or communities are carried out by police. They almost always come with media in tow, since apparently the commanding officer wants credits for the raid. Disruptions have also extended to activities in social media, such as Facebook groups of gay men where they exchange erotic pictures. To law enforcement personnel this violates the vaguely worded Pornography Law and the Electronic Information and Transactions Law.

Another Blow to LGBTIQ+ Rights?

On 2 January 2026, the infamous new Criminal Code will become law. With regard to homosexual acts (noting that most transgender people are classified by the gender assigned at birth), a majority opinion argues that since queer and trans people cannot be legally married under Indonesian law, their sexual intercourse can be prosecuted as extramarital. These people rarely pay attention to the caveats for prosecution, i.e. that sexual actors can be prosecuted if reported to the police by a husband or wife, or by a parent or adult child if the parties involved are not married.

Some analysts regard the caveats as a victory for non-conservatives in Parliament to make prosecution not so directly easy. There is even a provision that if the accuser withdraws their report before court proceedings start, the prosecution can be cancelled.

Some looming threats to LGBTIQ+ rights remain, though. Firstly, Article 2 in the new Criminal Code provides that in cases where a certain act is not mentioned in the Code, so-called “Living Law” can be used to prosecute the act. While there is a provision that a lower-level government regulation will be formulated so that the application of the Living Law is not contrary to national laws and human rights, many critical legal scholars are worried at how vague the wording of the Article.

Secondly, a new Criminal Procedure Code has been hastily ratified by Parliament this year, with the purpose of aligning it with the new Criminal Code. Civil society activists are worried that the Procedure Code vaguely gives powers to law enforcement people to tap suspects’ phones, freeze their bank accounts and so on without a warrant from a judge, if the prosecution is urgent. Given the history of raids at queer and trans gatherings and virtual groups, this is certainly worrying.

Thirdly, many LGBTIQ+ activists point out that already human rights violations take place without the new Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.

What is wrong with the power holders in Indonesia is their frame of mind: They cannot accept that gender-sexual diversity is part of our humanity, despite all the scientific evidence supporting such acceptance. The prevalence of conservative religious doctrine over scientific evidence is currently very strong.

The Only Way Is To Resist

The silver lining to the proverbial cloud is that queer and trans organizations and our allies are not deterred by all the aforementioned attacks. If anything, activism has become more creative, intersectional and robust. Many organizations choose to operate virtually, since a physical office could become an easy target of intolerant religious vigilantes and the like. Some deliberately use the postal address of respected legal aid institutes, which lends some security.

With a clear vision that the fight is a long-term struggle, most organizations have a two-pronged approach: to enable and empower local communities to endure the difficult situations so that at least lives can go on, and to work on the longer-term changes in Indonesian society towards one that is more accepting of all kinds of diversity, including gender-sexual diversity. This latter approach is significant since immediate legal changes are not possible. Having said that, it must be pointed out that local human rights lawyers in such organizations as legal aid institutes have become more understanding and adept at defending queer and trans victims of human rights violations.

At the national level, activist networks have not lost sight of the long-term goal. For example, there is a national coalition working on a draft bill on universal anti-discrimination legislation, supported by national as well as international organizations.

An Encouraging Development

Social media activism is very lively and creative, though it could receive hate speech attacks. Some content creators choose to engage the attackers in an elegant manner. Others contextualize queer and trans activism in other national concerns such as the regression of democracy, corruption and police and military violence.

Perhaps even more encouraging is that queer and trans activists also take part in recent mass protests, which arguably lends support to the queer and trans cause as a part of building a better Indonesia.

Generally, we all realize things are not always on our side, but we also realize that we are together with other sectors of society facing violation of their rights by the increasingly authoritarian state.

^{Surabaya, 1 December 2025}

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