Indonesian minister of education calls on universities to refuse LGBT students
11 February 2016 - The Indonesian minister of research, technology and higher education, Muhammad Nasir Djamil, said on 23 January that LGBT students should be banned from university. “‘There are standard values and moral standards to be maintained. The campus is a moral guardian”, Nasir said, ignoring his own standard to uphold the universal right to education. He followed the lead of the Minister of Culture and Education, Anies Baswedan. who warned parents and teachers that LGBT were deviant and a danger to adolescents.
Violence condoned by Indonesian government
Nasir made the comments in response to a controversy over a poster advertising counseling services for LGBTI students at the University of Indonesia. Half January, the poster went viral. The university immediately stopped recognizing the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC). SGRC defended its peer support network by claiming LGBT teens in Indonesia are more prone to suicide as a result of rejection and discrimination they received from the society. In a strategic workshop by Arus Pelangi, facilitated by GALE in 2013, it became clear that the level of bullying and outright violence in Indonesian education is exceptionally high. Every year, several new students get killed in fights during university initiation. It is to be expected more vulnerable students will suffer most from such a violent environment. The GALE/Arus Pelangi workshop therefore concluded it should be the highest priority to fight homophobia in the context of the wider violence in Indonesian schools.
Attempts to stop peer education
The GALE/Arus Pelangi workshop lead to cooperation with regular anti-bullying organizations and to the development of peer education for universities and secondary schools. The minister seems to embark on a course to stop these civil society initiatives against violence. “LGBT groups should not be allowed to develop and be given space to conduct their activities. Even more serious are those LGBT members who go into universities with scientific studies, or hold discussion groups” said Nasir Djamil.
Call to the president to keep promise to defend minorities
The Indonesian president Jokowi Widodo promised to enforce human rights and protect the rights of minorities during his presidential campaign in 2014. Democratic forces say it is his responsibility to now stop his ministers to reject the right to education, to incite discrimination, and to increase the vulnerability of minorities in schools. A coalition of human rights activists in Indonesia who are LGBTI and non-LGBTI, including the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission, have issued statements to challenge the homophobic actions of the government ministers and to demand accountability.
Sources: Republika News, Gay Star News, Huffington Post