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From online discrimination to death threats: Why LGBTQ Indonesians leave their country
Discrimination, denial and even death threats has driven many LGBTQ Indonesians out of the country. While some remain, many have left to become foreign citizens in countries where their sexual orientation is more accepted.
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Finding a safe place: Rainer (not his real name) said that 'the persecution of LGBTQ people has intensified, especially between 2015 and 2016', which prompted him and his partner to move to Canada for safety. (Unsplash/Delia Giandeini) (Unsplash/Delia Giandeini)
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i>Discrimination, denial and even death threats have driven many LGBTQ Indonesians out of the country. While some remain, many have left to become foreign citizens in countries where their sexual orientation is more accepted.
Ragil Mahardika, a gay Indonesian who chose to become a German citizen after marrying his German partner, Frederik Vollert in 2018, is one of them.
"I don't think it's possible for me to live the life I am living now in Indonesia," Ragil told The Jakarta Post.
He said that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) individuals in Indonesia did not have any rights that are protected by the government, resulting in difficulty in the multiple layers of their daily existence, such as in dealing with official paperwork. Ragil added that working in government and private institutions remained a challenge and judgment from society and religious institutions were constant and consistent.
“This country still finds it difficult to distinguish between a bed and a person's skills, and it's no wonder that someone is fired from their job because he is gay. Why do you still associate a person's sexual orientation with his abilities? That's why a gay person will not be able to live in Indonesia, his future remains in danger," Ragil shared.
Recently, Ragil was in the spotlight after the Youtuber Dedy Corbuzier interviewed him and Vollert for an episode of the Youtuber’s immensely popular and controversial podcast series. Corbuzier took the video down after persistent backlash on social media, and in particular from governmental and religious communities. The video resulted in a spike in public anti-LGBTQ discourse.
The video, entitled A tutorial on being gay in Indonesia, had already been watched more than 6 million times before Corbuzier took it down and apologized – an act that many saw as leaving the LGBTQ out to dry after using them for clickbait.
