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Faith that doesn’t discriminate sexuality
It is indeed good news to hear how Taiwan has become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage after a very long process
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It is indeed good news to hear how Taiwan has become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage after a very long process.
Many of my Taiwanese friends have expressed happiness by changing their social media profile pictures to display rainbow flags or simply posting the news about it. I really wonder what it is that enables Taiwan to uphold equality for its people.
In Southeast Asia, Thailand has become a tourist haven for same-sex couples. Although the country hasn’t legalized same-sex marriage yet, a law criminalizes discrimination against homosexuality or “a person who has a sexual expression different from that person’s original sex”.
Moreover, there have been advocacy campaigns and discussions in the Justice Ministry for civil partnership rights to be legally accepted in Thailand. Many welcome the proposal.
Television series and advertisements that promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are not uncommon in Thailand.
The one thing Taiwan and Thailand share in common that probably explains why they are very welcoming toward diverse sexual expressions is the major faith. According to Pew Research, the religious composition of Taiwan in 2020 is to be dominated by folk religions and Buddhism.
Moreover, even those who believe in other religions still hold on to Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism as their life philosophy. Thailand, meanwhile, is dominated by Buddhism.
Unlike Abrahamic religions that explicitly mention a group of people punished for non-heterosexual behavior, Buddhism never really talks about human sexual orientation.
It teaches, however, that rape and infidelity are immoral and will result in bad karma (natural feedback based on our deeds).
Buddhism only highlights three things: committing good deeds, avoiding wrongdoing and the need to purify our minds from time to time. Whether we are heterosexual or homosexual, transgender or cisgender (those identifying with their physical sex), we aim for happiness and everyone can achieve it by exercising the above teachings.
As someone from a Muslim family who spent my teenage life in a Catholic junior high school and high school, Buddhism came as a total shock and a moment of awakening to me. I never knew there was a faith that taught that anyone regardless of faith, identity and sexual expression could enter heaven as long as they perform good deeds in daily life.
You don’t even have to be a legally registered Buddhist. As long as you are a good person and learn to let go of attachment that will bring pain knowing that nothing in life is permanent, then you are already a Buddhist.
Once I attended a Buddhist youth forum in Mendut monastery in Central Java. There we could ask anything of a senior monk and we were also allowed to respond to his answers. One participant asked about the stance of Buddhism toward LGBT people.
The monk highlighted that whatever your gender, you must control your lust and behave politely in public because Buddha teaches that desire is limitless, and if you keep feeding that deire you will only end up suffering because not everything in life can always work out as we desire them to.
Most participants argued that we shouldn’t discriminate against LGBT people. Discrimination is based on hatred and hurts other people. Some participants also mentioned they had gay friends who were loyal to their partners and wished to have a family just like heterosexual couples. The forum, including the monk, agreed that we should treat LGBT people humanely as we treated other fellow humans.
Such discussions are rare in most Abrahamic religions according to my experience. Most of my acquaintances from Muslim or Christian backgrounds stand against LGBT people. Those who support them will be intimidated and feel alienated. Different religious interpretations about LGBT orientations compared to the mainstream are deemed perverted or heretic.
The progress of secularism and libertarianism in Asia mostly lags behind compared to in the Western world. This is understandable knowing how the Western world has gone through difficult times for modern values and understanding about humanity to eventually witness the exercise of such values compared to the situation in Asia. In fact, Asian nations learn those values from the West. This is probably why even Western countries with a majority of Catholics and other Christians are friendly enough to LGBT people and a few have legalized same-sex unions.
However, the conflict between the conservatives and the progressives in the Western world in regards to the acceptance of LGBT people still happens anyway. This shows how it’s really not easy for those countries to accept different sexual and gender expressions when conservatives from Abrahamic religions are involved.
Taiwan has now become a beacon of hope for those of us living in Asia that the equality among people we’ve been dreaming of might come true someday — although its background would be wholly different from neighbors in Asia.
Instead of looking up to Taiwan, Indonesia probably should learn more from the Western world on how conservatism in Abrahamic religions and progressive values can live side by side. This is maybe the time for the minority Buddhist community in Indonesia to start voicing their stance on humanity and equality.
In the past, when Shiva-Buddhism was the major belief system in Nusantara, we could find some traditional cultures that respected and celebrated diversity of sexual and gender expressions. So, there is still a hope for us to dream and achieve a civilization in which everyone can be happy to be who they truly are.
So whatever your gender, as long as you are a good person who performs good deeds and don’t harm others, you deserve equal rights. happiness and heaven.
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The writer is the author of Malam untuk Ashkii Dighin (Night for Ashkii Dighin) and a member of literary groups
Komunitas Pawon Sastra and Komunitas Supernova. He serves his clinical clerkship in Surakarta, Central Java, and coaches high school students in English debate.
