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View all search resultsMUI warns against men in dresses for Independence festivities
Amid a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Indonesia, the council said in a statement such behavior was "haram" or forbidden.
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Pedestrians walk past a billboard that reads “Firmly reject LGBT“ on July 27 in Banda Aceh, Aceh. Anti-LGBTQ sentiment is rising in Indonesia, with claims that food, vaccines and drugs can affect one's sexual orientation circulating online. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
T
he Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has warned men not to wear "women's clothing" for Independence Day festivities despite a long-standing tradition of men in dresses playing soccer as part of the annual fun.
Amid a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the country, the council said in a statement such behavior was "haram" or forbidden.
The MUI said its intervention was "an effort to prevent the covert campaign of the Lesbian, Gay, Sodomy and Obscenity (LGSP) movement"- the acronym it promotes as an alternative to LGBTQ for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer.
Each year, Indonesians engage in games and parades to celebrate the nation's declaration of independence on Aug. 17, 1945, from centuries of colonization.
Citizens take part in tug-of-war, sack races and cracker-eating contests, clamber up greased poles and attend colorful float parades.
In some communities, men put on dresses and hijabs to play soccer, a tradition widely seen as comical and not a statement on gender identity. Men sometimes also dress up to take part in independence parades.
But in last week's statement, MUI's Fatwa Commission said, "the rise of deviant actions such as men wearing women's clothing... is considered to have led to violations of sharia and social norms".
