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egative sentiments against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in conservative West Java took a nasty turn this week, with the Cianjur administration promoting the delivery of anti-LGBT narratives in sermons during Friday prayers in mosques across the regency.

Cianjur Deputy Regent Herman Suherman signed a circular on Monday, instructing all subdistrict heads in the regency to ensure that sermons during Friday prayers on Oct. 17 discuss the so-called dangers of the LGBT lifestyle.

The instruction, which comes amid a rise in anti-LGBT sentiments in recent years, cited a report by the AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) of Cianjur, which claimed that the number of LGBT people had risen significantly in the regency.

KPA Cianjur secretary Hilman confirmed on Wednesday the issuance of the circular and said the commission recently reported to the deputy regent that, as of September this year, there were 916 people living with HIV/AIDS in Cianjur.

“The number comes from key populations such as prostitutes, housewives, transgender [people] and men who have sex with men [MSM],” he said on Wednesday.

Hilman also reported that there were 3,452 MSM in Cianjur, up by 617 from the 2,385 men recorded between 2016 and 2017.

The KPA obtained the data from reports of a local NGO that assisted the MSM community in Cianjur. The commission and the NGO were reviewing the data to verify its accuracy, Hilman said.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but public persecution, including by authorities, against the LGBT community has risen in the country in recent years, with damaging remarks by public officials and police crackdowns fueling negative stigma against the minority group.

Herman, known for his anti-LGBT remarks, renewed his stance emphasizing the dangers of the LGBT lifestyle in a
morning ceremony at the Cianjur administration’s secretary office on Wednesday.

“There are about 3,804 people who have been infected by the LGBT disease and they are located in 32 subdistricts across Cianjur regency, and this must be of concern to us,” Herman said on Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its recent report that discrimination and persecution against the LGBT community had derailed public health outreach as it discouraged some HIV-vulnerable people from accessing prevention and treatment services.

According to the HRW, HIV rates among MSM have increased fivefold since 2007 from 5 to 25 percent, and while the majority of new HIV infections in Indonesia occur through heterosexual transmission, one-third of new infections occur among MSM.

Arjuna Pasundan, a Bandung-based NGO that advocates for people with HIV/AIDS, noted that the negative stigma was also widespread in other parts of West Java, including Garut and Tasikmalaya, but the impact also reached major cities like Bandung, further complicating advocacy work.

Meanwhile, KPA West Java chairman Iman Tedjarachmana questioned the blame game, which put the LGBT community in the spotlight, as HIV/AIDS was also contracted through heterosexual transmission.