LGBTI Africans share their real life coming out stories

There are a lot of people, both LGBTI and straight and cis-gendered, who believe the struggle for LGBTI acceptance is won.

But videos showing Kenyans and a Ugandan telling their coming out stories show many people still have to ask themselves: ‘It is really safe to come out?’

The interviewees describe their experiences of coming out, struggling for self-acceptance and rebuilding bridges with loved ones they lost.

Kendi Magiri said she would tell her younger self: ‘Stay true to who you are.

‘I told so many lies to myself, and I ended up putting myself in situations that almost totally ruined my life.

‘I was so self-destructive.’

The videos have advice for young people coming out today.

Lorna Dias advises: ‘There is somewhere you can go. You are not alone.

‘The business of coming out is very difficult; it is something traumatizing… It is understandable.’

Cleopatra Kampugu says of her experience: ‘If you are sure [of who you are], you don’t need anyone to validate you.’

The videos were created for IDAHOT 2015 (International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia) as a documentation project by None On Record.  It is an organization which collects the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Africans.

The post LGBTI Africans share their real life coming out stories appeared first on Gay Star News.

Jack Flanagan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/lgbti-africans-share-their-real-life-coming-out-stories/

Weekend News Brief: Dallas, Twin Peaks, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Savage

> Disgruntled patron likely responsible for vandalism at three gay bars in Dallas, police say.

> Texas Latino Gay Pride draws hundreds in Dallas.

> Shia LaBeouf arrested in Austin, Texas: “Austin police confirmed to KVUE LaBeouf was arrested for public intoxication near the corner of Sixth and San Jacinto around 7:30 p.m. Friday after he allegedly attempted to cross against a “Don’t Walk” sign. Public intoxication is a misdemeanor charge.”

> Video leaks from Twin Peaks set, shows Agent Cooper and….Laura Palmer?

> Dear Black People: “Being black and gay is one of the most unique and undesired perspectives to have, but it’s mine. I have a problem with a community that I belong to, love and support choosing not to fully embrace me because I was born just as gay as I was black. It’s disheartening, but more than anything it’s confusing. Rather than our struggles separating us, they should be a source of unification.”

> California will automatically register millions of voters: “Starting in 2016, every eligible California citizen who goes to a DMV office to get a driver’s license or renew one will be instantly registered to vote, unless he or she chooses to opt out.”

> Michael Savage says the Democratic party is ‘political AIDS‘: Savage claimed that it is the “radical, sick feminists” and “racists” who hate white people that are inflicting this liberal “sickness” on the nation. “This is a nation that is the deep throws of illness,” Savage explained. “It would be too easy to call it a mental illness… I’ve redefined the illness America’s suffering from as an autoimmune disease. America is suffering from what is the equivalent of political AIDS.” Savage went on to clarify that the virus invading the country and “destroying it from within” is the “Democrat Socialist Party.”

> World’s hottest Math Teacher Pietro Boselli visits Sicily:

The post Weekend News Brief: Dallas, Twin Peaks, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Savage appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Weekend News Brief: Dallas, Twin Peaks, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Savage

WATCH: New York’s Bravest Share Their Strength for Coming Out Day

The Fire Department of New York teamed up with the It Gets Better Project to release an emotional video featuring LGBT members of the force, just in time for National Coming Out Day. 

“As Firefighters, Paramedics and EMTs in the most diverse city in the world, FDNY members have the tremendous opportunity to inspire young people through their brave work every single day,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro in a statement issued along with the seven-minute clip. “Through this video, they deliver an important message to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth around the world — it absolutely does get better.”

“When the pain of where you’re at is stronger than the fear of where you’re going, you move forward,” says firefighter Luke Allen in the video. “When I came out, I kind of channelled that; I said, OK, I am the other. I’d rather be the other than the cookie-cutter.”

Several of those featured in the video speak candidly about fears they faced surrounding coming out at work, especially since some members arrived at FDNY after serving in the military. 

“Being able to embrace who you are, and say, ‘This is me, I’m not changing for anyone, I love who I am,’ is such a powerful, empowering experience,” explains Lt. Victor Berrios. “I was so uncomfortable for my first six months on the job, thinking ‘I have to maintain this facade, I have to maintain this facade.’ And then one day, someone just looked at me, and said, ‘What are you doing?’”

“The guys were worried, you know,” recalls Allen. “They didn’t know what to expect. But after some time, they realized I wasn’t much different from themselves.”

“What people care about here is whether you can do your job, and whether you can apply yourself and be about giving yourself to other people,” says paramedic Samantha Wilding. “I’m not your queer paramedic, I’m not your tall paramedic. I’m not your female paramedic. I’m your paramedic.” 

The video features 12 LGBT members of New York’s Bravest, including the city’s first out trans firefighter, Brooke Guinan, candidly share the fear they felt coming to terms with their identities, then pivot the discussion to offer hope and inspiration for those still living in the shadows. 

“I think, if anything, I’m a better firefighter, a more compassionate public servant because of the experiences that I’ve gone through,” says Guinan, who transitioned on the job. 

At the video’s halfway point, it takes a somber but important turn, as the firefighters, paramedics, and chaplains discuss their own personal struggles with depression and suicide. 

“My 16th birthday was probably the closest I’ve ever come to suicide,” says Lt. Berrios. 

“And I remember, very clearly, just not seeing a future for myself,” says Ann Kansfield, FDNY’s first female (and lesbian) chaplain. “Or at least not a future that involved happiness or peace. … Had I ended it, I would have missed so many wonderful things in my life. So since that time, I’ve found a really healthy relationship with someone I truly love and I’m incredibly grateful to be married to. And we have really delightful children, and I have a healthy relationship with my parents, and a really fulfilling career, and I never, ever would have imagined it in that instance.”

Watch the powerful video below. 

Sunnivie Brydum

www.advocate.com/pride/2015/10/11/watch-new-yorks-bravest-share-their-strength-coming-out-day

Why I came out to my parents via email

Even as a young girl, just as certainly as I imagined my future wedding day in vivid color, I knew my grown-up life would contain another, less enjoyable milestone: the awkward ‘coming out to your parents’ conversation.

Today, as my Twitter feed buzzes with mentions of the #NationalComingOutDay hashtag, I imagine teenagers across the country steadying themselves for this very moment, their minds churning for months, if not years, at the thought of turning their parents’ lives upside-down over Sunday lunch.

Like thousands of others, before I came out I was petrified by the formality of sitting my family down and sharing what I believed to be HUGE NEWS with them.

And I just couldn’t face it. The thought of being confronted with my parents’ sadness and anger was too much to bear, so I kept my secret to myself for eight miserable years.

Nowadays, I’m frequently inspired by interesting and innovative coming out stories – from posting a message on Tumblr, to sharing a snap of a ‘coming out cake’, or uploading a poignant video to YouTube. But even though it wasn’t all that long ago, these platforms weren’t around to help me share my story.

As National Coming Out Day came round again in 2010, I knew it was time to do something after being firmly stuck in the closet throughout my teenage years.

So I bit the bullet, and carefully crafted an email.

Perhaps it was a cowardly choice to avoid a face-to-face discussion. Maybe it was unfair to spring my news on my parents as they casually did their online shopping. I’ll never really know how they reacted when they read the words on the page.

But to this day, I stand by my decision. With hindsight, I realise much of the anxiety around sharing the news was around the method of telling them, rather than the ‘coming out’ itself.

I was able to detail my feelings honestly, and they were able to digest the information in their own time. In taking the stress away from the conversation, my parents and I were able to discuss the implications of my sexuality without any extra emotional baggage.

Once the ice was broken, having the conversation face to face was much, much less daunting. In fact, their reaction was so uncontroversial that I barely remember what happened when we spoke about it in person.

As far as I know, it went a little something like: ‘Thanks for telling us. We love you unconditionally. By the way, your car’s passed its MOT.’ Much less hideous than the sobbing, wall-punching, soap opera saga I had envisaged playing out in my imaginary face-to-face coming out conversations.

I feel closer to my parents now than I ever have, because I was able to be honest – all the more honest, in fact, because I chose a ‘coming out’ method that felt the most authentic to me, even if it was through the medium of Hotmail rather than a deep chat.

The message I sent is below:

Dear Mum and Dad,

Sorry this is a little out of the blue, and sorry it’s via email. I’ve literally decided to do this on a whim because life isn’t a rehearsal and I felt the need to be open about this.

I’m not straight. I don’t want to put too fine a label on it, but if we’re labelling things I’d probably say I was bisexual.

You most likely already know, and I’ve known for years, but I’ve come to terms with it now and felt the need to say something because it’s starting to frustrate me that I’m not being honest. To be fair, the intimate details of my sex life are most probably not interesting to you (they’re not really interesting to me either at the moment), so there hasn’t been any need to say anything because it’s nobody’s business but mine. 

I’m still exactly the same person, and I have the same goals and dreams, and I’ve never been dishonest about any of them. I’ve not even really been dishonest about this either – it’s not as if I’ve had secret women queuing up to date me or anything like that.

I’m hoping I’ve judged this right, and you won’t feel upset, but I just couldn’t face having a cringe chat about it – it’s not as if I need to sit you down and say “Mum, Dad, I might in the future sleep with a man.” So I didn’t feel the need to do that just because the possibility of sleeping with a woman is also open to me. The way I see it is that I’m not attracted to men or women, but people and personalities. I’m gradually learning to be less apologetic about it, and I think the first step to doing this is to mention it to you.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s about as important to my personality as a whole as whether I drink coffee or tea – I drink both, and I don’t have to broadcast it to anyone or sit my family down and tell them in a cringe “coming out” situation. I appreciate it might be more of an issue for you so if you want a cringe dinner I can happily oblige. But I’ve just been building it up in my head as a massive deal so having a “sit down and talk about it” kind of conversation really makes me feel awkward. I’m happy to do that, but I’d rather send this first.

I think I’m just trying to affirm that my personality still remains and isn’t really affirmed in any massive way by who I choose to sleep with, because ultimately, for me, it is a choice. I’m not “unsure”, it’s not a case of “bi now, gay later”, it really is just dependent on the person.

I’m really sorry if you’re not OK with this, and I’m sorry if the way I’ve gone about this hasn’t been the most helpful, but maybe we can sort something out once you’ve digested this. I don’t know how much digesting it’ll take. It took me 8 years to come to terms with it, so I don’t blame you if it takes a while. It’s not a big deal to me so I hope it’s not a big deal to you either.

Lots of love xxxx

The post Why I came out to my parents via email appeared first on Gay Star News.

Mel Spencer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/why-i-came-out-to-my-parents-via-email/

WATCH: ‘Gays In Prison’ Features Story Of Drag Star Latrice Royale

RuPaul’s Drag Race star Latrice Royale (aka Timothy Wilcots) is finally opening up about his time in prison in Rogue Culture Productions’ Gays in Prison, a documentary on the stories of incarcerated GBT people airing on Logo.

Wilcots briefly revealed that he had gone to prison on his season of RPDR but chose not to elaborate further. Now Wilcots and other GBT inmates are openly sharing their stories on dealing with the harshness of prison, from avoiding violence and sexual assaults from fellow inmates to maintaining their identity within the walls of the prison.

Watch Wilcots and other GBT inmates share their stories:

The post WATCH: ‘Gays In Prison’ Features Story Of Drag Star Latrice Royale appeared first on Towleroad.

Anthony Costello

WATCH: ‘Gays In Prison’ Features Story Of Drag Star Latrice Royale

US group points to LGBT leaders to watch out for

Predicting the future is never  smart, but when it comes to LGBTI leadership the community has a wealth of talent. To celebrate National Coming Out Day, the National Black Justice Coalition launched a a site called 100 to Watch.

‘I am filled with hope and excitement for our community’s future,’ Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC’s executive director and CEO, said in a statement. ‘They aren’t waiting for the torch to be passed to start speaking truth to power; they’re making waves right now to build a better community, nation and world.’

Those listed range in age from 18 to 30 and are found in the halls of power, from politics to entertainment. There is Monique Dorsainvil, who works in the White House as the  director of planning and events for the Office of Public Engagement and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Make sure to check out Vanessa Newman. The poet is the founder and CEO of Butchbaby & Co, a gender neutral wear line for the pregnant.

Actually look at everyone on the list. You’ll be inspired. And proud.

The post US group points to LGBT leaders to watch out for appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/us-group-points-to-lgbt-leaders-to-watch-out-for/

NYC Fire Dept. Says ‘It Gets Better’ for National Coming Out Day: WATCH

The NYC Fire Department (FDNY) has released its first-ever ‘It Gets Better’ video in observance of today’s National Coming Out Day.

12 active FDNY Firefighters, Paramedics, and EMTs discuss challenges they have faced in their lives and the success they have found both as adults, and as members of New York’s Bravest in the clip, produced by the FDNY.

Said Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro: “As Firefighters, Paramedics and EMTs in the most diverse city in the world, FDNY members have the tremendous opportunity to inspire young people through their brave work every single day. Through this video, they deliver an important message to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth around the world – it absolutely does get better.”

Said Brett M. Peters, Director of Communications for the It Gets Better Project: “With their It Gets Better video, the brave men and women of the FDNY have made a powerful statement in support of LGBT youth. By fostering such a welcoming community in the workplace, the FDNY is helping lead the way in encouraging LGBT young people to be whoever they want to be.”

Watch:

Founded in 2010 by Dan Savage and Terry Miller, the It Gets Better Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that uses all forms of media and engagement to reach LGBT youth worldwide in order to provide critical support and hope that life indeed gets better.

The post NYC Fire Dept. Says ‘It Gets Better’ for National Coming Out Day: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

NYC Fire Dept. Says ‘It Gets Better’ for National Coming Out Day: WATCH

Andy Cohen And His Parents Share His Coming Out Story

Andy Cohen marked National Coming Out Day by interviewing his parents, Ev and Lou, on SiriusXM’s “Andy Radio” this weekend. On the debut installment of “Free Advice with Ev & Lou Cohen,” the Cohens looked back at what happened when Andy first identified as gay. 

The Bravo TV personality, 47, turned introspective in the interview as his mother recalled suspecting her son might be gay after she saw him performing in the musical “Carousel.” Later, she uncovered gay porn under Andy’s bed and an emotional letter in which he’d opened up about his sexuality to a friend. 

Eventually, Ev confronted Andy, but asked her son to say the words out loud, “because that made it real.” 

Pointing to Andy’s “dramatic” female friends, she joked, “I never would’ve liked your wife anyway.” 

Later in the interview, Ev Cohen revealed she had a difficult time accepting her son’s sexuality for about six months after he came out, and sought help from a psychiatrist. 

“It was 1989, and everybody — all these young men — were dying of AIDS, and I was worried you were gonna get AIDS,” she told Andy. “I had to mourn my expectations that you’d get married, that you’d have children. At that time, those were not possible.”

A good friend’s words quickly changed her mind, however, and Ev has been supportive of her son, as well as active in the gay community, ever since. 

Also on HuffPost: 

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677065/s/4a9557b0/sc/38/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A0C110Candy0Ecohen0Ecoming0Eout0In0I8276830A0Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm

Judge: Yes, Hobby Lobby Discriminated Against Illinois Trans Woman

In a decision from May that was only made public this week, Administrative Law Judge William J. Borah ruled that Hobby Lobby violated the Illinois Human Rights Act by refusing to allow a transgender female employee to use the women’s restroom at work. 

That employee, Meggan Sommerville, began her gender transition in 2009, and has worked as the frame shop manager at Hobby Lobby’s location in Aurora, Ill., for more than 16 years. She first filed a complaint against Christian-owned chain of Oklahoma City-city based arts and crafts stores in 2011 when, she says, management wrote her up for using the women’s restroom. Her complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights alleging discrimination in employment and public accommodations was initially dismissed in 2012 for lack of evidence, and then reinstated and advanced to the administrative law judge, as The Advocate reported.

“I’m just looking to be treated equally with every other female in the company — not just in the store, but in the company,” Sommerville told Newsweek last year. “If they recognize me as female for certain things, why can’t they recognize me as female for everything?”

While management did not fire Sommerville, and acknowledged her as a woman once she legally changed her state ID and birth certificate in 2010, her complaint alleges that by sanctioning her for using the women’s bathroom, managers created a hostile environment. Moreover, Hobby Lobby management maintained that Sommerville had to first undergo specific gender-affirming surgeries before using the bathroom that corresponded with her gender identity.

Sommerville’s attorney, Jacob Meister, told The Advocate that such a requirement is “absurd” and “unlawful,” and “there’s absolutely no support in the law for this.” Not only is gender-confirmation surgery costly, many trans people do not desire or cannot access such procedures, while it remains unknown whether Medicaid or health insurers for low- to middle-income people in Illinois even cover such surgery. 

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-4 vote in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that religiously minded business owners essentially may “line-item veto” birth control coverage out of their employees’ health plans. The court based its decision on the claim that Hobby Lobby and other “closely held corporations” are protected from the government interference with the owners’ exercise of religion as guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The Internal Revenue Service defines a “closely held corporation” as one in which more than 50 percent of the value of all outstanding stock is owned by five or fewer people.

Acknowledging the close relationship between reproductive rights and LGBT rights, activists warned that if Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties — the two businesses that challenged the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage requirement — could use their “sincerely held religious beliefs” to deny contraception to employees, then they might use the same power to deny health care to transgender people or withhold coverage for HIV and AIDS treatment to employees.

In an op-ed for The Advocate, Jennifer C. Pizer, Lambda Legal’s senior counsel and law and policy project national director, argues that the Burwell decision presents a slippery slope that likely opens the door for businesses to discriminate against LGBT people under the guise of religious freedom. 

This week’s ruling in Sommerville’s case shows that anti-LGBT discrimination was already alive and well within Hobby Lobby prior to the Burwell ruling. As ThinkProgress explains, Somerville suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition which increases her need to use the restroom. Still, Hobby Lobby management restricted her to using the male restroom, or waiting up to six hours for her lunch break to use the facility at a nearby fast food restaurant. When Sommerville was written up for using the women’s restroom in 2011, she was not officially working, but rather visiting her store as a customer. Hobby Lobby management went to enormous lengths to deny Sommerville use of the correct bathroom, even constructing a separate gender-neutral single-stall restroom in 2014, which remains the only restroom that management has approved Sommerville to use. 

The ruling also pointed to additional evidence suggesting Hobby Lobby’s intentional mistreatment of Sommerville, including the fact that Hobby Lobby changed its own policies in order to discriminate against Sommerville. At first, Sommerville was told she was required her to obtain gender-confirmation surgery to use the women’s restroom (which would, presumably, not be covered by the insurance she may have had through her employer).

But then in 2014, the company demanded that Sommerville change the gender marker on her birth certificate, in what appears to be an attempt to capitalize on the fact that, at the time, Illinois still required transgender residents to get surgery if they wanted to change the gender marker on their birth certificate. After three trans people sued the state, the American Civil Liberties Union helped devise an agreement in 2012 whereby genital surgery was not the only kind of surgery required to update gender markers on birth certificates in Illinois.

Where the judge’s ruling leaves Sommerville is unknown. The ruling was a recommendation that the Illinois Human Rights Commission must now affirm. For now, Sommerville still soldiers on as an employee at Hobby Lobby.

Cleis Abeni

www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/10/11/judge-yes-hobby-lobby-discriminated-against-illinois-trans-woman

'We Were Treated Like Animals': The Story Of Indonesia's LGBT Activists

This is the first part of a 10-part series on LGBT rights in Southeast Asia, which uncovers the challenges facing the LGBT community in the region and highlights the courageous work of activists there.

***

Hartoyo remembers that fateful night in 2007 all too clearly. He had been home with his boyfriend in the Indonesian province of Aceh when a group of people broke down the door and began ransacking the place. The strangers “dragged me, beat me, verbally abused me,” Hartoyo recalled in a 2013 interview with 429Magazine. They then called the police.

“I get so angry when I remember what happened,” Hartoyo told the BBC. “The police urinated on my head and beat the two of us up.”

Hartoyo, a gay rights activist who now lives in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, said he was tortured for three hours while in custody. He was stripped naked and forced to perform sex acts. Later, he said, he and his boyfriend were intimidated into signing a “contract” vowing that they would no longer engage in sexual activity with each other.

“We were treated like animals,” Hartoyo told the Jakarta Post in 2009. 

Aceh, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, is known for its draconian system of Sharia law. It has a population of 4.7 million and is the only province in Indonesia where homosexuality is illegal. The LGBT community has been forced “into hiding” there, according to Reuters.

Earlier this year, the deputy mayor of Banda Aceh, the province’s capital, labeled homosexuality “a social disease that should be eradicated.” 

The province, however, isn’t the only place in Indonesia where it’s unsafe for the LGBT community. 

Though homosexuality isn’t technically criminalized under Indonesian law, in many states, such as south Sumatra, anti-prostitution laws (where “prostitution” is widely defined to include same-sex intercourse) are used to limit the rights of LGBT people, and according to activists, the community is marginalized even in bigger cities like Jakarta.

“LGBTI people are discriminated against in just about all domains of life,” Dédé Oetomo, founder of Gaya Nusantara, the first LGBT rights organization in the country, tells The Huffington Post. Discrimination even happens in the work place and in schools.

Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, is mostly conservative and society is “very heteronormative,” Oetomo says. “The greatest challenge is still the immediate family.” 

A 2013 Pew Research Center report about global attitudes towards gays and lesbians found that 93 percent of Indonesians did not believe that homosexuality should be “accepted by society,” making the country one of the least tolerant nations surveyed. 

A year later, a landmark USAID/UNDP report on LGBT rights in Indonesia found that LGBT individuals are “often prevented from living meaningful lives and are denied opportunities that others take for granted.” 

“This takes a toll on the individual and the country as it prevents thousands of people from both contributing fully to the development of their country and from enjoying the benefits of development,” UNDP Country Director Beate Trankmann says.

class=’g-aiImg’
src=’http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/AsiaLGBTMap-desktop.png’
/>

LGBT Rights Lag In Southeast Asia

In some countries, homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, whipping and even death.

Status of gay rights in Southeast Asia

BETTER

WORSE

MYANMAR

THAILAND

PHILIPPINES

BRUNEI

MALAYSIA

SINGAPORE

INDONESIA

Homosexuality is…

and punishable by…

GENDER

EXPRESSION

IS PROTECTED

DEATH

WHIPPING

ILLEGAL

PROTECTED

PRISON

Brunei

NO

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

Singapore

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

NO

NO

Myanmar

YES

NO

YES

NO

NO

Malaysia

YES

NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

Yes, in some areas

Indonesia

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

Limited (Some local areas only)

Philippines

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

Thailand

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

Sources: 76crimes.com, UNDP, USAID, icons by Sasha Lantukh, Jens Tärning and Joab Penalvad for the Noun Project. Graphic: Alissa Scheller/The Huffington Post.

Indonesia has one of the worst records in the world when it comes to violence against transgender people, according to activist Mario Pratama.

Last year, a group of unidentified assailants attacked attendees of a Transgender Day of Remembrance rally in the city of Yogyakarta.

“They dragged, kicked and pushed the rally participants,” Pratama told the Jakarta Post at the time.

The attack wasn’t unusual. Pratama said that 85 percent of the country’s transgender community had experienced violence between 2011 and 2012. 

Hardline Islamist activists also target and intimidate LGBT individuals. One of the most vocal anti-gay Muslim groups is the Islamic Defenders Front, known as the FPI in Indonesia. In 2010, a member of the group told the BBC that “gay people are mentally ill.”

“God didn’t make them that way,” he added. “They choose to be with people of the same sex and it is a crime in our religion. If the government doesn’t want to do anything about them, we have to.”

Despite myriad challenges, LGBT activism has been growing in Indonesia. About 120 LGBT grassroots organizations are currently in operation, working primarily “in health issues, publishing and organizing social and educational activities,” according to the USAID/UNDP report.

Still, despite a relatively vibrant activist community, activists say real change has been slow to come. 

“When we frame it in rights, there has not been progress,” Oetomo says.

Earlier this year, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage in America, Hartoyo was asked whether or not he felt Indonesia was anywhere close to achieving marriage equality.

The country, he responded, is miles away from such a goal. 

“A more immediate issue our country is facing is violence based on sexual preference and gender identity. This is what we will fight against in the next 10 years,” he told the Jakarta Post in June. 

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677065/s/4a950260/sc/7/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A0C0A70Clgbt0Eindonesia0In0I827640A60Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm