Yesterday the Human Rights Watch released a report on the deterioration of LGBT rights in Indonesia. Gay people are targeted mainly by politicians and religious hardliners, in particular some Islamic communities, for example the largest Muslim group in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama. Their life style is described as ‘perverted’ and the authorities are aiming for a ban of LGBT societies from universities. The president’s speaker added that there is ‘no room’ for gay community in Indonesia. He said: ‘Rights of citizens like going to school and getting an ID card are protected, but there is no room in Indonesia for the proliferation of the LGBT movement’. 

This worrying phenomenon is recently spreading across the larger region of South East Asia. Another example are the Philippines, where the President, Rodrigo Duerte, has openly insulted the US ambassador, Philip Goldberg, saying: ‘As you know, I’m fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry’s) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off’.

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