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string of derogatory statements by politicians against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) are a sad reminder of the severe asymmetrically of the culture war in Indonesia. This war has just begun to smolder '€” but Indonesian liberals know they are fighting a losing battle.

For the first time ever, an intense national debate has sprung up over the rights of LGBTs. At a glance, liberal values may seem to be on the march; the rise of anti-LGBT rhetoric in the public sphere could also be seen as a sign that the conservatives are on the defensive, and that the LGBT issue has become more mainstream and, therefore, more salient.

The creation of alarmist Twitter hashtags and even newspaper headlines warning the public of a supposed '€œdarurat LGBT'€ or '€œLGBT emergency'€ is a worrying trend, as it reflects what can only be interpreted as mass hysteria, a collective delusion of an imaginary threat. But at least people have now begun to openly talk about this. And that, in spite of everything, is a step forward.

With the ascent of social media, the culture war in post-Soeharto Indonesia will continue to intensify. People today are more exposed to global issues than they were before and they now have the means to express their opinions, regardless of how badly informed and logically fallacious they are.

The US Supreme Court'€™s decision last year to legalize same-sex marriage, for instance, was widely discussed, even though local LGBTs have never demanded that a similar step be considered in Indonesia. It was no surprise, then, that when Research and Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said LGBTs should be barred from universities, a social media frenzy immediately broke out over whether the minister was right or wrong.

Despite all the bigotry shown on our social media feeds, this is actually a positive development for Indonesian democracy. Having a national conversation about important but controversial issues like LGBT rights is good.

With greater public attention, pro-LGBT activists now have the opportunity to clarify some misunderstandings about homosexuality and to explain to the public what they have been doing for years. It is true that some people are perhaps too bigoted to recognize LGBT rights, but some others are probably just misinformed and their opinions can be swayed.

OK, that is perhaps an overly optimistic view of the situation.

The fact is that the liberals are overwhelmingly underrepresented in the existing political structure. Indonesia does not have any liberal political party. In the US, the liberals have the Democratic Party to advance their agenda in the country'€™s political process.

In Indonesia, the liberals have nothing. That is why when the public debate over LGBTs heated up, government officials scrambled to deaden the debate by issuing knee-jerk statements and policies to appease conservatives'€™ demands.

Over the course of less than a month, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has ordered TV stations to stop airing pro-LGBT content, the Vice President has asked the UN Development Program (UNDP) to stop financing LGBT programs in the country and, after telling messaging app LINE to remove stickers featuring same-sex couples, the Communications and Information Ministry will also ask Facebook and Whatsapp to make the same concession.

It is safe to say that when it comes to the issue of civil liberties, the default position of government officials is to side with the conservatives.

I'€™m aware that I'€™m stating the obvious here, but it is important to realize this simple fact that lacking a representation in the executive, legislative and judicial powers, liberal Indonesians dreaming of a more inclusive and more tolerant Indonesia are fighting an uphill, if not a losing, battle.

Indonesia has never had a liberal politician fighting for a liberal agenda. Even the new faces in politics deemed as reformists are not known to be liberal. Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo was backed by the liberals in the 2014 election, but the President is far from being a liberal. In the first few months of his presidency, he executed a number of drug convicts to keep his popularity intact. We should not be surprised that his ministers are more conservative than he is and that all these antigay policies are being made under his watch.

Ridwan Kamil, Tri Rismaharini and Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama, arguably the most popular and promising politicians after Jokowi who may climb up to the national political stage, are no liberals either.

Bandung Mayor Ridwan recently said that sexual orientation was a personal issue, but added that he would definitely take action against people promoting LGBTs in the public sphere. He argued that in Indonesia being LGBT was considered '€œtaboo and deviant'€. Reelected Surabaya Mayor Risma said she was concerned about LGBT content in social media and that she would go into schools to warn about the danger. Jakarta Governor Ahok, a practicing Protestant, is also clear on this issue: He rejects LGBT people as a '€œcommunity'€ or a '€œmovement'€.

Ulil Abshar Abdalla of the Democratic Party and Eva Kusuma Sundari of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who have been outspoken in defending minority groups, are among the vanishingly few liberal politicians out there. But they do not have enough leverage to influence even their own parties. There is little they can do to change the system from within.

It'€™s good to have a national debate about LGBTs. But it is wishful thinking to expect Indonesia to tilt to a more liberal view anytime soon. As long as the dearth of liberal politicians continues, persecution against minorities will go on. And this social-media driven culture war may only make matters worse.
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The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post