Global LGBT turmoil: Jamaica, Africa, SE Asia, Russia, U.S.
The international scope of the movement for rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people is vividly in evidence right now, along with strong opposition to those rights.
Here’s what’s going on:
- An anti-homosexuality march in Jamaica, scheduled for today.
- Preparations for a debate among Commonwealth nations over LGBT rights and the fight against AIDS.
- A court appeal, scheduled for Monday, of a man in Cameroon who was sentenced to three years for homosexuality
- A court appearance, also scheduled for Monday, for a man in Uganda who was arrested for producing a play about a gay businessman
- A debate among countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations about LGBT rights in their member nations. Reportedly, ASEAN representatives from Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei have been instructed to oppose LGBT rights, while those from Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia have been supportive.
- In Malaysia, a government endorsement of a warning to parents to watch for “symptoms” of homosexuality in their children.
- In Russia, a reported Supreme Court ruling that gay pride parades and discussions of homosexuality can be held without violating regional laws against “promoting” homosexuality in the presence of minors.
- In the United States, stark contrasts between the Republican and Democratic platforms on gay rights issues.
This blog is following all those issues, and more, but there’s no time now to provide details, other than what readers can find by following this post’s hyperlinks.
Indonesia is never being supportive to LGBT, except Bali. There are a lot of articles showing how cruel Indonesian people are, to LGBT community! Singapore said to oppose LGBT on the surface, but beneath the surface, everything is alright. In Singapore, there are LGBT event called PINK DOT. In Indonesia, they even boycotted LGBT movie festival and threatened the participants to be deported or injured!
Perhaps we’ll be pleasantly surprised by Indonesia’s position on this issue, but you’re quite right that Indonesia hasn’t been supportive. As ILGA reports, “We have seen a number of countries including China and Indonesia restrict web access to Gay or Lesbian Sites including the ILGA website making it more difficult for LGBT organisations in those countries to operate.” Also:
“Same-sex relations are not prohibited according to the national Penal Code. The only provision to deal with such relations is article 292 which prohibits sexual acts between persons of the same sex, if committed with a person under the legal age. However, in 2002 the national parliament gave the Aceh province the right to adopt Islamic Sharia laws. Such laws do apply to Muslims only. Moreover, for example the city of Palembang in South Sumatra has introduced jail time and hefty fines for same-sex relations.”