The Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies at Universitas Indonesia (SGRC UI) has been in the news a lot lately after their existence was denounced by the university and “prohibited” by the government for these glaringly contradictory reasons given by the Minister of Research Technology and Higher Education.
Some SGRC UI members now say that they’re being persecuted by the public, who believe the group is an LGBT community rather than a group offering peer support to LGBT individuals.
“We’re just a community that provides the service of raising awareness about teenage gender issues,” wrote SGRC UI member Nadya Karima Melati, as picked up by Tempo.
Nadya explained that some of their members are being made to feel unwelcome among their own families, social groups, and even on social media.
“Some of our members have even been kicked out [from these groups],” Nadya wrote.
If what Nadya said is true, then this truly is a giant leap backwards for LGBT rights in Indonesia. How can we expect social equality for LGBT citizens if members of an LGBT peer support group (not all of whom are necessarily LGBT individuals) in one of the country’s most respectable universities can still get persecuted?
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