Criminal Code Revamp Plan Sends Chill Through Indonesia's LGBT Community

Zulfikar Fahd, an openly gay man, says he flew from Indonesia to Canada late last month and claimed asylum on grounds that he faced discrimination and persecution in his home country, which is poised to criminalise same-sex relations and consensual sex outside marriage. Fahd, 30, who had worked in public relations, said he had already given up hope that the police would provide him protection against Islamic fundamentalists who have fomented hostility towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in this Muslim-majority country, which is also the world's third-largest democracy. Police have stood by while vigilantes have stormed "gay sex parties", and have themselves broken up gatherings at spas and hostels, charging some with violating strict pornography laws, and prompting many others to go underground. 

February 10 / Today