Maniac Muslims in court to criminalise the LGBT - Indonesia

"Gays are a contagion", anti-gay banner in Indonesia

The threat of gay marriage coming to Indonesia has awoken the fundamentalists over there to take action against such a deadly threat as this. The gay peril cometh, or something like that I expect. Needless to say I would assume that the threat of the gays has been the catalyst for resistance to what is viewed as sexual immorality.

So a bunch of "academics" all religious, have gotten together in a court case which is still running. They want to put a five year sentence on gays and criminalise sex before marriage for straights in a wide ranging religious push back against some evil immorality that is about to take over the place.

Interestingly, they say they must preserve their "values". Again, bigotry is bigotry even if it is camouflaged by "values" in accordance with religion.

“This constitution is liberal, yes, because it’s coming from imperialist government,” Akbar said, adding, “Must all laws that are not in according with the morals and religion have to be synchronized with the local values so this court … [can be] an institution illuminated by the light of God?” Buzzfeed

I do feel very much for gays in Indonesia presently. Such people, if these laws come to fruition, may well be forced to seek asylum in other lands. 

Oh, "think of the children!" also gets representation in the article quoted below, inferring that gays are paedophiles. 

The suit, which has been brought by 12 academics and activists, has already had several hearings, but captured international attention earlier this month when it was reported that the petitioners sought the criminalization of homosexuality. But they are actually seeking a broader reform of the country’s criminal code, according to court filings, that would not only criminalize homosexuality but also make sex between unmarried people a crime. 

Tuesday’s hearing, which was attended by a large group of activists from an Islamic women’s organization, was the second in which the petitioners were able to present witnesses in support of their case. They argued that not only was the country on the verge of a crisis of sexual morality, but it was at risk of having its core Muslim values overridden by international human rights claims that embrace LGBT rights. 

Tuesday’s testimony began with Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh, chairman of the National Child Protection Commission, who said the court needed to take urgent action to curtail a crisis of sexual morality that put the nation’s children at risk. He called for a five-year prison sentence to be imposed for homosexual acts, which he warned “tend to be repeated because there is a factor of addiction in it,” and raised concerns that same-sex marriage could come to Indonesia. 

“There is no strong regulations to forbid same-sex marriage nor criminal sanctions,” he said, adding that such punishments will “strengthen the state’s responsibility to protect the rights of children.” 

Hamid Chalid, a constitutional law expert at the University of Indonesia outside Jakarta, said the court needed to step in to protect local religious and moral values. These are being eroded, he argued, by international human rights norms pushed by Western governments that have purged religion from public policy. Buzzfeed  

Oh the humanity!.....