Text

"Scared in Public and Now No Privacy": Human Rights and Public Health Impacts of Indonesia's Anti-LGBT Moral Panic

---

On May 21, 2017, police in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, raided the Atlantis gym and sauna, arresting 141 people, most of whom were gay or bisexual men. Ten were ultimately prosecuted under Indonesia’s pornography law. The Atlantis was not just a “gay club,” but a public health outreach center—a well-known hub for HIV education, testing, and counseling among men who have sex with men (MSM).

In the media, the raid was just the latest “anti-LGBT incident.” Since early 2016, many senior government officials had made that four-letter acronym a toxic symbol, the focus of an unprecedented rhetorical attack on Indonesian sexual and gender minorities. Officials used the letters to signal a group of societal outsiders; some even construed the visibility of “LGBT” as threat to the Indonesian nation itself.

There were at least six similar raids on private spaces in 2017, and more in early 2018. Each followed a pattern: vigilantism against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people provided social sanction for abusive police action; vague and discriminatory provisions in the law empowered authorities to violate the privacy rights of people presumed to be LGBT; the venues raided were places where LGBT Indonesians believed they could gather safely and privately, to learn about health issues, make friends, and build community. All told, police in Indonesia apprehended at least 300 LGBT people in 2017 alone because of their sexual orientation and gender identity—a spike from previous years and the highest such number ever recorded in Indonesia. The pattern of these raids suggests a systematic crackdown on LGBT rights, and their impact portends a public health crisis.

---

Availability

VIII.2 003

363.4 IND S

Perpustakaan Komnas Perempuan (Perpustakaan Komnas Perempuan)

Available

Detail Information

Series Title

-

Call Number

363.4 IND S

Publisher

United States of America : Human Right Watch., 2018

Collation

70 hlm; 27,5 cm

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

978-1-6231-36215

Classification

363.4

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

-

Subject(s)

LGBT
Public health
International law
Impact of moral panic
LGBT Crisis

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

-

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment