Indonesia Debates Banning LGBT Characters from TV

Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, is currently considering a ban on LGBT television characters, according to a report.

According to the Telegraph, “the proposed ban has been added to a broadcasting bill currently passing through the country’s House of Representatives,” and illegal content “would include programmes featuring any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender ‘behaviour.'”

It was also reported that the proposed ban has “broad cross-party support,” while if the bill succeeds, “all shows would need to be screened, including adverts and documentaries, to ensure compliance.”

“We can’t allow LGBT behaviour on TV. It is against our culture,” declared the NasDem Party’s Supiadin Aries Saputra. “We have to ban it early before it becomes a lifestyle. It’s dangerous and can ruin the morality of the younger generation.”

The National Mandate Party’s Hanafi Rais also attempted to justify the proposed law by claiming, “I am sure there are still more creative ways to entertain people [instead of showing LGBT behaviour].”

Although as in Egypt, homosexuality is not explicitly outlawed in Indonesia, crackdowns on homosexual activities have been on the rise.

141 men, including a British national, were arrested in Indonesia earlier this year on suspicion of having a “gay sex party.”

On Sunday, 17 men “suspected of homosexuality” were also tried in Egypt, another majority-Muslim nation.

According to Deutsche Welle, “The case is part of a wider crackdown on homosexuality,” which has prompted Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to call on Egyptian authorities to halt their crackdown on homosexuals in the country following a recent concert in Cairo where the LGBT rainbow flag was spotted.

The two groups also urged Egyptian authorities to end the practice of “anal examinations” on suspected homosexuals, branding the practice “abhorrent” and a form of torture.

Egypt has previously arrested alleged homosexuals accused of “debauchery” and “blasphemy,” including 26 men in 2014 who were tried for “debauchery,” before being acquitted the following year.

As previously reported, “The LGBT community are routinely persecuted in Muslim-majority nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Chechnya, an autonomous, Muslim-majority province in Russia.”