The History of LGBTQ Discourses in Indonesia

Abstract

There is a prevalent perception that the past colonialization and the expansion of Christianity have deeply affected the sexual regulations and norms in the formerly colonized countries. This perspective unavoidably affects how Christians today see the recent debate on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) issue. The most prevailing perspective embraced by many conservative Christian leaders in the Global South today is that there is a political agenda from western countries by importing their liberal opinion on sexuality as a socially-chosen construct and not a naturally-given condition. For them, this is a new kind of colonialism. By discussing the specific case of Indonesia, the author argues that this is not always the case. By tracing back to the history of LGBTQ discourses in Indonesia, he attempts to show that colonization brought no impact on the recent LGBTQ debates. The discourses began to thrive in the last twenty years, mainly due to the internal political dynamics of Indonesia and the rise of Islamic populism after the 1998 reformation