INDONESIA: Politicians Call For Blocking Pro-LGBT Sites And Compare LGBT Rights To “Radical Terrorism”

Coconuts Jakarta reports:

The climate of moral panic over LGBT rights in Indonesia is really getting scary now. With messaging app LINE having been intimidated into pulling their pro-LGBT stickers in Indonesia and the government pushing Whatsapp and Facebook to follow suit, several prominent Indonesian politicians are now pushing for the government to block all websites containing pro-LGBT content.

“As the government blocks sites that are associated with radical terrorism, then it should also block sites that propagate LGBT,” Hidayat Nur Wahid [photo], the vice-chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), told Hidayatullah on Sunday, adding that the block should cover “online LGBT campaigns associated with foreign funding” (surely a reference to the UNDP’s initiative to protect LGBT rights) as they could cause “chaos” in Indonesia.

Hidayat is hardly the only Indonesian politician equating the fight to protect LGBT rights with terrorism. “If BNPT (The National Counterterrorism Agency) can block sites that are suspected of terrorism, I think the government should think about doing the same thing related to sites that propagandize about LGBT,” said Nasir Jamil, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician and member of House Commission I.

Homosexuality is legal in Indonesia except for Muslims in the populous provinces of Aceh and South Sumatra, where Sharia Law is in effect. An estimated 87% of Indonesia’s 255 million residents are Sunni Muslims.