The above 2012 documentary from Vice gives a great overview of the history and social importance of the Al-Fatah Islamic School for transgenders in Yogyakarta .
As you probably know, there is a lot of depressing news right now regarding government officials attacking LGBT rights in Indonesia. But we must also recognize there are also a lot of people in authority here who are trying to do the right thing and protect all of Indonesia’s citizens equally.
Many international news outlets have written about and taken photographs at the Al-Fatah Islamic school, located in the Banguntapan district of Yogyakarta, because it is the only Islamic school in Indonesia (and perhaps the whole Islamic world) that accepts transgender students. The school was created specifically as a safe and accepting place for waria (the Indonesian word for transgendered individuals) Muslims to gather together, pray, and discuss the issues they face. It has been allowed to exist as a part of the community since 2008 without any major incidents.
But given the current climate of fear surrounding LGBT rights in Indonesia, it seemed inevitable that the school would be targeted. And indeed, last Friday dozens of members of the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) hardliner group showed up at the school after a chain email had gone around urging the group to force Al-Fatah’s students to “return to the right way”.
But when they arrived at the school, the FJI members found all of Al-Fatah’s students safely evacuated and dozens of police officers standing guard ready to protect the building.
Banguntapan Police Chief Commissioner Suharno told reporters that he would assure the security of the the Al-Fatah school and would keep officers posted at the school for as long as it would take to ensure that it was safe.
“We have conveyed that we will ensure security in the region. We do not want any unfortunate incidents to take place and so we will put officers in full force at this location,” he told reporters as quoted by Kedaulatan Rakyat Jogja.
Police were ready for the FJI members’ arrival because one of the caretakers of Al-Fatah, Shinta Ratri, had already reported the threatening chain message.
“Earlier we asked for security guarantees from the Banguntapan Police and LBH Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute). We also asked state officials to help ensure that our school would not be sealed,” Shinta explained, adding that the school was the only home many of its students had and that they would not be forced out of it.
The police responded to Shinta’s request for protection and met the FJI members with full force on Friday afternoon. In the end, the members of the hardline group left without causing any trouble, although they also delivered a letter to the local subdistrict chief, Gatot Indriyanto, asking for officials to check into the school and its deviant practices.
Police Chief Suharno has said that he will attempt to bring together all concerned parties to peacefully mediate the issue over the next week.
Our thanks to Pak Suharno and the Banguntapan Police for restoring our faith in humanity and our hope that there are still Indonesian leaders out there who are willing to stand up to extremists and protect the rights of all Indonesian citizens equally.
