Indonesia’s LGBTQ community angry at rise of conversion therapies

 | 
03/14/2021

Kai Mata found herself at the center of a homophobic storm last year when she posted a video of herself online denouncing a draft of bill that included articles on forcing LGBTQ people to undergo conversion therapy to “cure” their sexual orientation or gender identity. “I am Indonesian and LGBTQ+,” the caption of the video posted on Twitter read. “Help stop a bill that would require conversion therapy here in the fourth-most populated country in the world.” Mata, a 22-year-old Bali-based lesbian singer-songwriter and one of the country’s most outspoken LGBTQ activists, said received a around 400 hate messages and death threats within a day of posting the clip. Undeterred, she continued writing very personal folk songs about her identity and issues surrounding the LGBTQ community. But last month, she received a direct message on Instagram promoting ruqyah, or Islamic conversion therapy. The advertisement was for a website called terapikonversi.co that offers corrective rape, electroconvulsive therapy, and exorcism, telling her: “It’s not too late to turn to God. Allah has not left you… Let us help you cast out the demon within you.”

Regions: ,

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 04/26/2024
04/26/2024
In August of 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, the combination of torrential rain and flawed infrastructure proved deadly. More …
Added on: 04/26/2024
04/25/2024
Internet users’ public expression of their sexual orientation does not authorise using this data “for the purposes of personalised advertising,” a legal adviser at …
Added on: 04/26/2024
04/25/2024
Congolese member of parliament and former presidential candidate Constant Mutamba is standing by his bill that would criminalize gay sex for the first time in …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 04/26/2024
In Thailand, the perception of a welcoming atmosphere for LGBT individuals paints a picture of acceptance that many countries strive for. However, the layers …
Added on: 04/25/2024
There’s a new rainbow rising over Nepal. This is Sandip Roy in Kathmandu. The Himalayan country has always been known for tourism – Mountains forests old …
Added on: 04/24/2024
Over the weekend in Japan, 15,000 people took part in the 2024 Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade, one of the biggest LGBTQIA+ events in Southeast …