Repression worsens in Indonesia and Egypt
Indonesian and Egyptian leaders have made news through repressive, wrong-headed responses to the existence of LGBTI people.
The following news briefs are modestly edited and slightly expanded versions of items from UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI news, UNAIDS reports:
Indonesia’s House of Representatives said it will pass a law to ban all positive representations of LGBT people on television, including films, TV shows, and advertising.
Under the bill, all shows would need to be screened in advance to make sure that no films, TV shows or advertising would violate the ban.
Also in Indonesia, police raided a sauna and arrested 58 men, including six foreigners, under charges of providing pornographic services. Although homosexual activity is not explicitly criminalized except in two provinces, police routinely use charges of debauchery and prostitution to detain people who are assumed to be gay.
From Egypt came reports that the Coptic Church is organizing a conference to increase awareness on how to “recover” from homosexuality and to teach church patrons how to conduct gay “conversions” — a widely discredited and unsuccessful practice that leads to emotional trauma.
Also in Egypt, what started as a few people waving rainbow flags at a rock concert escalated significantly to anywhere from 30 to 57 arrests of supposed lesbian, gay, and bisexuals on charges of debauchery and inciting sexual deviancy. Many groups have spoken out against these actions, including the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality and the concert’s rock band Mashrou’ Leila. Concurrently, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation issued a blanket ban on all positive “appearance of homosexuals or their slogans in the media” stating:
“Homosexuality is a sickness and disgrace that would be better hidden from view and not promoted for dissemination until it is treated and its disgrace removed.”
