The shelter, called Rumah Anak Raja (House of the King’s Child), is a haven for transgender people, especially those who are elderly.

Transgender activist Yulianus Rettoblaut, better known as Mami Yuli, who founded the shelter in 2010, said the residents of the shelter had lived peacefully with their neighbors. The shelter not only houses transgender women but also empowers them by encouraging them to engage in social activities in nearby neighborhoods.

Still, Yuli expressed concerns over rising anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sentiments in Depok, including by the city itself. She said it was difficult enough without societal pressures for transgender people to make peace with themselves.

“Transwomen have always been associated with prostitution or identified as street buskers or beggars. Some also believe that we’re the cause of the spread of HIV in society,” she told The Jakarta Post recently.

She consistently calls on the shelter’s inhabitants to disprove such stereotypes by encouraging them to contribute to society. With the shelter, her main mission is to empower transwomen so that they can ultimately one day be accepted by society and have their basic rights fulfilled.

With the help of donors from churches, the shelter often trains transwomen in skills that can help them earn money, often in the fields of massage, makeup and hair care.

The shelter relies on donors to run operations. Over the years, Yuli has realized that the shelter has been given less and less attention from the government and the local administration. The house used to receive
Rp 10 million (US$ 712) in monthly aid to cover its operational costs from the Social Affairs Ministry.

“The figure has decreased sharply, I guess it’s due to the more rampant ‘war’ against us. I can no longer rely on them. I started approaching churches to seek help,” she said, citing St. Stefanus Church in Cilandak, South Jakarta, as one of its recent donors.

The Depok administration issued a circular last year in which Depok Mayor Mohammad Idris called on residents to be “on alert of any LGBT behavior” and file a report over any findings of LGBT-related activities in the neighborhood.

Many activists lambasted the circular and demanded that the Depok administration revoke it.

West Java-based rights group Yayasan Satu Keadilan said the city administration set a dangerous precedent by criminalizing an identity.

“In practice, this mayoral decision will be used by people to persecute the LGBT community,” said Syamsul Alam Agus, the secretary of the organization. Depok Social Agency head Achmad Kafrawi, however, said the circular was not anti-LGBT and that it was a way to encourage people to “avoid sexually deviant behavior”.

“We are not anti-LGBT. If there is someone who has a problematic social function, they have to be embraced and are invited to restore their social function in accordance with the roots of our culture and ideologies,” Achmad said.

Despite the circular, those living near the shelter do not seem to be bothered by the presence of transwomen in the area. One neighbor, Atun, said transwomen there never had any problems with the locals and the locals similarly had no reason to complain.

“They are very kind and funny. Those pretty girls often eat fritters in my stall,” said the owner of a fritter stall located 30 meters from the shelter.

Atun explained that, unlike what the mayor suggested, transwomen created no problems; rather, they dressed decently and were cordial with their neighbors.

“Why should we feel bothered? Through them we learn to accept people based on their heart, intentions. It’s the mean people that we should hate, not those who simply just look different,” she added. (mai)

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