Abstract
This article examines how Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, came to define sexuality for its general population once intimacy was brought into the public sphere. However, its Islamic version had predominantly been based on interpretations pushed by politically hardline Islamist groups. The influence of this lobby (to be referred to as belonging to the stream of ‘conservative Islam’) grew steadily after the downfall of the Suharto regime in 1998 and culminated in the passage of an antipornography law ten years later. Focusing on the definitions of sexuality and pornography forwarded by these groups, this article analyses their limitations as well as the power contestations behind the passage of the antipornography legislation. It argues that such narrow interpretations of sexuality have had a marked impact on the nation, in particular the curtailment of its popular culture and creative industry. This has resulted in the arbitrary persecution and banning of cultural products considered to violate Islamic morality and propriety. The condemnation of dangdut singer Inul Daratista, and her ‘drill dance’, is one of many examples of such suppression.
Highlights
Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, except in Aceh, which has applied strict sharia laws since 2001
In the 2019 election, all of these parties explicitly considered themselves to be aligned with Islam—the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP), and the Crescent Star Party (PBB)—and they garnered more than 30 percent of the total vote, far more than the election winner, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with over 19 percent (Farisa 2019)
Besides tracing how intimacy had been brought into the public sphere in order to define sexuality, this article discusses how the body is controlled through discourses and practices in the passage of the controversial law
Summary
Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, except in Aceh, which has applied strict sharia laws since 2001. For the majority of Muslims in contemporary Indonesia, being seen as sympathetic to homosexuality can be very unpleasant and dangerous This is especially so for state officials; they have to quickly reject such a claim to save their job and, more importantly, prevent public anger and demonstrations against their office.. It should be mentioned that two of Indonesia’s major nationalist parties—Prabowo Subianto’s the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party (Partai Democrat)—have been wooing Muslim voters and have huge numbers of Muslim followers These two parties, plus the other five Muslim-aligning parties, have made up more than 50 percent of the total popular vote. Using social media to make their voices heard is an attempt to check the ever-growing influence of conservatism as propounded by Islamist groups in the nation
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