Indonesia to Vote on New Law Criminalizing Gay Sex

In the coming weeks, Indonesia is set to vote on new laws that would make extramarital sex and queer sex illegal. CNN reported that, under the new law, committing an "obscene act" with someone of the same gender would be punishable fine. If the act is public, it would also be punishable with up to 18 months in jail. "Obscene act" is not well defined. If the acts are distributed in pornography, the sentence can rise to up to nine years in prison.

"Many people don't like us ... they don't like us being more visible, so they are preparing laws that can criminalize us," a young gay Indonesian man by the name of Ael told CNN. "As a gay person and a young person in Indonesia, this issue has actually become dangerous for us."

Related | Indonesia's Top Court Rejects Petition to Outlaw Gay Sex

This comes on the tails of "taskforces" in Depok and West Java created to crack down on any LGBTQ+ activity in the areas.

"Religion has agreed that LGBT acts are forbidden, so legally we will overcome this problem so that it will not spread," said the Deputy Mayor of Depok, Muhammad Idris, about the taskforce.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said at a press conference in Jakarta on February 7 that he was "greatly concerned" about the possible new law.