Chief of the Surabaya Police community alliance division, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sri Setyo Rahayu, said the National Police had instructed the Surabaya office not to issue a permit for the three-day conference set to be attended by 200 participants from across Asia.

“Based on a police intelligence report, the event could trigger social unrest. The East Java chapter Indonesian Ulema Council [MUI] also recommends that the event be canceled as it’s against religious teachings and culture,” she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Under the plan, the 4th Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (ILGA) regional conference will be held from March 26 to 28. The last three conferences were held in Mumbai, India (2002); Cebu, the Philippines (2005); and Chiangmai, Thailand (2008).

ILGA Asia Regional Conference organizing committee head Poedjianti Tan said the group would try to lobby and approach religious figures to change their minds since it had already distributed invitations to group members and activists in 16 countries including in Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore.

“The event is actually held to seek a way out on social issues faced by the minority group. We will also hold a seminar on health, education, discrimination and others,” she said.

Tan said the meeting was not exclusively held for the lesbian, gay and transgender communities, but would also pay special attention to women’s issues in Asia.

The East Java MUI and clerics from Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah Muslim organizations have strongly opposed the conference.

East Java MUI head Abdussomad Bukhori said the event would hurt Muslims in Indonesia because lesbianism and homosexuality are against religious norms.

“We will make strenuous efforts to call off the event because it would likely spark social unrest and waves of protests,” he said.

An Islamic sociologist at the Muhammadiyah University in Malang, Syamsul Arifin said homosexuality and lesbianism were still controversial issues here but encouraged religious leaders not to perceive the issue only from religious aspects.

“I’m in favor of the event. We will even invite clerics and religious figures to attend it,” he said.
“There would definitely be pros and cons. The devout would definitely see the issue as a form of pathology that should be set aside since it’s apparently against any religion,” the university’s post-graduate program deputy director said.

He urged the public to look at the issue from the sociological perspectives, saying the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities are a social reality.

“Basically, they only wish people to recognize their existence, socially and legally.”

Popular

Is Indonesia really ready to embrace dual citizenship?

Palm oil plantation-less mills lead to increase deforestation

Prabowo inaugurates construction of Majapahit palace replica