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No link between crimes, sexual orientation: Post-Reynhard anti-LGBT sentiment condemned
A 2019 report by LGBT rights organization Arus Pelangi showed that between January and February 2018, 45 statements containing hate speech against the LGBT community were expressed by executive and legislative officials, law enforcers and public figures.
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Hate and fear: Thousands of anti-LGBT demonstrators march in Bogor, West Java, in this Nov. 9, 2018 photo. (AFP/Sandika Fadilah Rusdani)
I
t never crossed Ayu Bagaoesoekawatie’s mind that crimes committed in Manchester, the United Kingdom, a place thousands of kilometers away, would directly have an impact on him.
Bagoes, a 28-year-old queer man in Jakarta, has had to face the reality that the crimes by Reynhard Sinaga, another Indonesian gay man, have affected him.
Following the conviction of Reynhard for serial rapes, Bagoes, who is open about his identity, said his friends have started to liken him to the rapist or made comments with anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sentiments.
"A friend said to me that [LGBT people] had to be guided and banished," Bagoes told The Jakarta Post.
Reynhard, a 36-year-old Indonesian citizen was sentenced to life for 136 counts of rape, eight counts of attempted rape, 13 counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault with penetration in Manchester. The case caused a furor and sent shock waves across the country.
The LGBT community and some civil society groups have expressed concerns that the public are linking the crimes to Reynhard's sexual orientation. Given the comments that have been made regarding the Reynhard case, Bagoes was concerned a backlash against the LGBT community would grow just like in 2017 when police raided a gym in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, where a gay sex party was reportedly taking place.
In anticipation of negative sentiment against the LGBT community, a day after Reynhard's conviction made headlines, a coalition of civil society organizations against sexual violence, comprising 16 organizations, issued a statement on Jan. 7 asking for the public to refrain from linking the crimes to any sexual orientation.
