Indonesia police recently shut down the grand finale of the Mister and Miss Gaya Dewata 2018 beauty pageant after allegedly receiving complaints from conservative “community” groups. The event was set to take place Oct. 10, 2018, but police halted it.
The annual event is put on by the Gaya Dewata Foundation, one of Bali’s oldest non-governmental organizations (NGO). The foundation advocates for equality and holds an annual pageant. Before the pageant, contestants get schooled on local LGBTQ issues, HIV and human rights and then are interviewed onstage about their views. The event helps raise community awareness.
However, the Head of Bali Regional Police Relations said that local Muslim “scholars,” including the Indonesian Ulema Council — the country’s top Muslim clerical body — complained to police.
Related: Indonesian “Sex Party” Raid Sparks Outcry From Human Rights Groups
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Muhammad Taufik Asadi, chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council, said, “This is clearly very alarming, because these actions are clearly contrary to moral and religious values in Indonesia.”
Sadly, the event was canceled and now the Gaya Dewata Foundation’s web page is no longer accessible online, putting the future of the NGO in question.
Islam isn’t inherently anti-gay. The Quran says nothing about homosexuality, and American Muslims support same-sex marriage more than American Evangelicals. Much like how the Bible gets distorted by religious conservatives, the Quran is mangled by political leaders who try to curry favor with conservatives forces and suppress dissent.
Even though homosexuality isn’t explicitly illegal throughout the Muslim majority country, the Indonesian government has commenced an anti-LGBTQ crackdown over the past year anyway.
This year, the Indonesian government started banning gay social apps, the capital city of Jakarta founded an anti-LGBTQ police force and the country’s most conservative province continued its practice of publicly whipping gay men.
Health experts say that Indonesia’s anti-LGBTQ policies have dramatically raised the country’s HIV rates. In short, banning events like Mister and Miss Gaya Dewata is actually making life worse for all Indonesians.
Ahmadsyukri
Im from Indonesia.
Just want to make it clear, use your brain that God gave it to you.
we are humans created to think.
Don’t you think that your actions are inferior to animals?
Are there male dogs who like fellow male dogs?
Or a female pig who likes female pigs and has sex?
Vince
We are animals who used to swing on trees. Stop hating on animals.
Gigi Gee
@Ahmadsyukri — What?
Hussain-TheCanadian
@ Ahmed
You obviously know nothing about the animal kingdom, otherwise you would of known many animals, espacially males, have sex with each other all the time. If you want to use an argument based on nature, maybe you should research the topic first before coming here and making yourself look stupid.
Vince
Religion is for the weak-minded, mentally ill, bigots, and grifters.
The only thing I agree with is Islam is just as hypocritical as Christianity. However Islam is the bigger threat because the crazies are actually running the insane asylum.
Gigi Gee
@Vince — The crazies are running the asylum in America as well. Pence and his cronies are working overtime behind the scenes to turn LGBT people into second class citizens. They say they hate radical Islamists but they’d throw us from rooftops if they could.