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Jakarta Post

#UninstallGojek trends after executive shows support for LGBT community

Many netizens have defended Gojek, pointing out that many companies widely used in Indonesia have also openly declared their support of the LGBT community, including Twitter itself.

Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, October 14, 2018

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#UninstallGojek trends after executive shows support for LGBT community Gojek released a statement on its Twitter account saying that the post was "a personal opinion and interpretation of one of Gojek's employees about an internal event with the theme of diversity. (Shutterstock.com/findracadabra )

H

omegrown ride-hailing app Gojek has come under fire after a screenshot of a Facebook post from one of its executives expressing support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community went viral. 

The post, written by Gojek vice president of operations and business development Brata Santoso, was made after Gojek launched an internal campaign called #GOingALLin in conjunction with Coming Out Day.

"I'm happy to say that Gojek is taking the diversity & inclusion matter to the next level by the adoption of a non-discrimination policy toward the underrepresented group, i.e. LGBT, despite being an Indonesian company," Brata wrote. 

The post sparked an online furore, with the hashtag #UninstallGojek trending on Twitter since Saturday night. Many Twitter users have posted screenshots of them uninstalling the Gojek app from their phones in protest of what they perceived as Gojek's approval of homosexuality.

 

 

But many netizens have also defended Gojek, pointing out that many companies widely used in Indonesia have also openly declared their support of the LGBT community, including Twitter itself.

"I respect those who want to #UninstallGojek. That is everyone's right," Twitter user @newsplatter said. "But I also want to remind them to uninstall Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and don't use Apple either — because as far as I know all those brands support LGBT rights."

 

Gojek itself released a statement on its Twitter account saying that the post was "a personal opinion and interpretation of one of Gojek's employees about an internal event with the theme of diversity." Gojek management said the company respected diversity but also respected "Indonesian values and culture".

Unlike in other Southeast Asian nations, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but the country has seen a rise in anti-LGBT sentiment in recent years.  

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