A photo of a wedding ceremony between two men apparently in Bali has been getting backlash as it gets more viral.
The photo shows a local man marrying a Westerner, along with Balinese dancers by their side and a Hindu holy man (Pemangku). The ceremony is said to have taken place in Ubud, but the identities of the men involved and the exact whereabouts of the ceremony are not yet public knowledge.
Bali’s governor himself has chimed in, condemning homosexuality and ranting that this sort of sin will tarnish Bali’s reputation, for tourism (since that’s always what he’s worried about).
Furthermore, Governor Made Mangku Pastika also says Hinduism forbids same sex marriage.
“It should not have happened. Should not. Where was it?” Pastika said this week, angrily.
“In the Hindu religion it is banned. Extremely banned. I want to know, where was it? We should give a reprimand. I think it’s a disgrace for Bali. It should not happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bali Wedding Association issued a statement calling for action.
“We have issued an official statement urging the Government to follow up on the reports and process them according to the law. If the violators of the law were our members we would not hesitate to firmly warn or even fire them according to our internal regulations and hand it over to the authorities,” spokesman Yano Sumampow said, as quoted by News Corp Australia.
And it doesn’t stop there. “We have established a team to track down the information. We need to identify who they are, what was actually done, where is it, who led the ceremony, who witnessed the ceremony and all other things,” Grand Council of Customary Villages Jero Gede Suwena Putus Upadesha said, as quoted by News Corp Australia. Customary Villages is apparently an umbrella organization for the 1488 traditional Balinese villages on the island.
“We have to find out what it actually is. Why was there a man wearing the white clothes of a Pemangku (Hindu Holy man)? Was the wedding according to Hindu religion? If it was only acting to feel like a Balinese ceremony it was also wrong. They should not do it,” Upadesha said.
