The History of LGBTQ Discourses in Indonesia

Abstract

There is prevalent perception that the past colonialization and the expansion of Christianity have deeply affected the sexual regulations and norms in the former colonized countries. This perspective unavoidably affects how Christians today see the recent debate on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) issue. The most prevailing perspective embraced by many conservative Christian leaders in the Global South today is that there is a political agenda from western countries by importing their liberal opinion on sexuality as a socially-chosen construct and not a naturally-given condition. For them, this is a new kind of colonialism. By discussing the specific case of Indonesia, the author argues that this is not always the case. By tracing back to the history of LGBTQ discourses in Indonesia, he attempts to show that colonization brought no impact on the recent LGBTQ debates. The discourses began to thrive in the last twenty years, mainly due to the internal political dynamics of Indonesia and the rise of Islamic populism after the 1998 reformation.

Queer Decolonization and the Metaphor of the Androgynous God in Indonesia: A Cosmological Perspective on Local Culture

“…The history of queer community discourse in Indonesia shows that there has been a harmonious life in the Bugis Muslim community for more than three centuries (Davies 2010, 10-15). The root of the problem of queer rejection in Indonesia is not only the way of interpretation of scriptural texts, but most LGBTI discourse in Indonesian churches does not pay attention to political power and dynamics in the context of Indonesia's history, especially the rise of Islamic populism in the reform era (Tumanan 2020). From this, we see that Islam, especially reformist Wahhabi groups, has contributed to the development of heteronormative systems in Indonesia, namely that queer communities are seen as "severe chaos", sources of crime, violating the fundamental order of nature, where the heterosexuality system becomes the only normal and accepted sexual expression by society in general (Blackwood 2007).…”

“…Sharyn Graham Davies traces the history of LGBTI discourse in Indonesia, such as the Sulawesi Bissu community and the Warok tradition of East Java for more than three centuries lived harmoniously with the Muslim community, but persecution began to occur in the 1960s through "Operation Penance" from an Islamic group called Darul Islam/Tentara Islam Indonesia (DI/TII) (Davies 2018, 10-15;Boellstorff 2005, 5-15). Most LGBTI discourse in Indonesian churches does not pay attention to political power and dynamics in the context of Indonesia's history, especially the rise of Islamic populism in the reform era (Tumanan 2020). From 2016-2023, sexuality began to become an open discourse and was discussed both in the public sphere and on social media.…”