Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, “narrowly rejected” a law that would criminalize gay sex and sex before marriage this week.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the proposal was “narrowly rejected” with a five-to-four decision from the nine judges.
“In a 467-page ruling against the petition Thursday, the Constitutional Court said existing laws covering adultery and gay sex don’t contradict the country’s 1945 constitution, and that it is beyond the court’s purview to make or revise laws. The court can annul regulations that run counter to the constitution,” they explained. “Still, four of nine judges took dissenting positions. They argued that ‘homosexuality is clearly one of the sexual behaviors…that is extremely reprehensible before religious laws…and the living law.’ They agreed the court should refrain from acting as a legislative body, but argued such restrictions don’t apply when a law reduces or opposes religious values or living law.”
Though 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,” while last month, four men were arrested for “spreading gay pictures.”
In October, it was reported that Indonesia was considering a ban on LGBT television characters, and following a gay club crackdown this week, ten men were sentenced to prison for between two and three years.
Charlie Nash covers technology and LGBT news for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington and Gab @Nash, or like his page at Facebook.