Indonesians push to prohibit gay sex, unmarried sex

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

BuzzFeed world correspondent J. Lester Feder and contributor Rin Hindryati in Jakarta, Indonesia, report:

Homosexuality Must Be Criminalized To Protect Indonesian Values, Court Told

“Our country has legalized fornication, male rape and homosexual acts. We’ve allowed our constitution to become too liberal — is that what we want?”

JAKARTA — A group of academics and activists urged the Constitutional Court of Indonesia to criminalize fornication and homosexuality on [Aug. 23] in the latest hearing in a lawsuit that began earlier this year.

Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh (Photo courtesy of Panjimas.com)

The suit, which has been brought by 12 academics and activists, has already had several hearings, but captured international attention earlier this month when it was reported that the petitioners sought the criminalization of homosexuality. But they are actually seeking a broader reform of the country’s criminal code, according to court filings, that would not only criminalize homosexuality but also make sex between unmarried people a crime.

Tuesday’s hearing, which was attended by a large group of activists from Islamic women’s organization, was the second in which the petitioners were able to present witnesses in support of their case. They argued that not only was the country on the verge of a crisis of sexual morality, but at risk of having its core Muslim values overridden by international human rights claims that embrace LGBT rights.

Tuesday’s testimony began with Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh, chairman of the National Child Protection Commission, who said the court needed to take urgent action to curtail a crisis of sexual morality that put the nation’s children at risk. He called for a five-year prison sentence to be imposed for homosexual acts — which he warned “tend to be repeated because there is a factor of addiction in it” — and raised concerns that same-sex marriage could come to Indonesia.