Indonesian court mulls gay sex ban
In this March 17, 2016 file photo, a man walks past an anti-LGBT banner erected by an ultra-conservative Islamic group in Jakarta. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court is considering whether to make gay sex a crime after accepting a judicial review petition from Islamic activists. A group calling itself the Family Love Alliance says an existing law that criminalizes sex between adults and minors of the same gender, and which mandates prison sentences of up to 15 years, should be amended to also apply to sexual acts between adults of the same gender. Rita Hendrawaty, chairwoman of the group, said Wednesday, Aug. 3, it was not trying to criminalize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Letters on the banner read: “Indonesia is on LGBT emergency” and “Gay people are contagious, save the young generation from LGBT people.” AP FILE PHOTO
JAKARTA—Indonesia’s Constitutional Court is considering making gay sex a crime, with Islamic activists pushing for the change insisting Thursday the homosexual community was causing “moral degradation” in the Muslim-majority nation.
The move comes after the gay community in Indonesia began coming under sustained attack earlier this year, with ministers and religious leaders denouncing homosexuality and LGBT websites blocked.
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The court is hearing a judicial review filed by Islamic activist group the Family Love Alliance that seeks to alter the criminal code to ban homosexual sex.
“We see the moral degradation that is happening,” Rita Hendrawaty Soebagio, chairwoman of the alliance, told AFP.
“This is purely because of our love for our nation, we must do something while we have a chance.”
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Her group argues that the influence of the gay community has been spreading, particularly since the United States legalized same-sex marriage nationwide last year, which activists believe triggered the backlash.
Under current laws, sex is only illegal for both homosexual and heterosexual people if it involves a minor.
The judicial review was filed in May and the court has held five hearings, including one this week, in which it heard from expert witnesses. The next hearing is due later this month but it is not yet known when a ruling will be handed down.
The court said on its website that it was hearing the case and that testimony from health experts included claims that gay sex could cause sexually transmitted diseases.
Gay sex remains legal in most of Indonesia although homosexuality is generally taboo. A small number of provinces in the country, where power is heavily decentralized, have passed Islamic-inspired laws against homosexual sex.
Indonesia’s current laws on homosexuality are more liberal than some of its neighbors.
In Singapore sex between men remains illegal, a holdover from colonial rule that is not strictly enforced. In Malaysia sodomy is a criminal offence and can result in imprisonment, corporal punishment, and fines.
