Activists warn that the LGBT panic in Indonesia is not only causing wide scale discrimination and persecution against the protected minority group, it is also helping to create a public health crisis by making it more difficult for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services to reach vulnerable populations.
The office of a non-governmental organization that focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention in the city of Pekanbaru in Riau almost became the victim of an anti-LGBT crusade — led by hardline Islamic groups and a local politician — but, in a surprising and heartening development, government officials have decided to stand up for the NGO and its work, concluding that it had done nothing wrong and that it was a protected and legally sanctioned organization.
The secretariat office of the Indonesian Social Change Organization (OPSI) in Pekanbaru was raided on January 15 by members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) as well as local residents and police, allegedly based on suspicions that LGBT “activities” were taking place inside.
Following the raid, the head of Pekanbaru’s Civil Service Police (Satpol PP) said the office should be shut down due to the community’s concerns about its possible support for LGBT behavior, despite acknowledging that OPSI’s only stated goals was to do health consultations for groups vulnerable to HIV and AIDS, specifically sex workers including gay men and transgender individuals.
The group that did the investigation was fortunately not the Satpol PP but a team from the Pekanbaru office of the National and Political Unity Agency (Kesbangpol), which focuses on resolving conflicts between different levels of the government.
After visiting OPSI’s office last weekend, the Kesbangpol team concluded that there was no “LGBT activity” taking place there, nor could they find any local resident who said they had directly witnessed such activities taking place at the building.
“We have already asked the local RT and RW (neighborhood and community heads) and they assured us that no LGBT practices were taking place there,” explained Pekanbaru Kesbangpol Agency Head Zulkifli to Tribun yesterday. He also mentioned that there was no reports of activity that “disturbed” local residents.