The harmful practice of “conversion therapy” continues to exist in Indonesia.

LGBTIQ+ community members in Indonesia report that  “conversion therapy” practices continue to exist and it is often performed at religious institutions using harmful religious rituals. 

Arisdo Gonzalez,  a gay activist from CSO “Pelangi Nusantara”, spoke about the “conversion therapy” practices in Indonesia in his interview:

“It began when I was confused about my sexuality and my gender identity, especially in high school when I was being bullied. There was one teacher to whom I told I was gay and she…advised me to go to a church. The following Sunday I went to the church to meet a pastor for counseling. The pastor made reference to some scripture and [talked about] being homosexuality based on the Bible. And I thought “Oh my god, I am really wrong, I need to be changed”. Pastor gave me some holy oil, poured it on my head and started praying [to convert me] from being gay to becoming straight.  And I thought I was healed, but the next day I was still interested in men. The impact of this practice was really bad and I felt depressed. I didn’t want to be heterosexual, I didn't want to be masculine, but they forced me to be like that, by using the scripture, and that really hurt me. In my life, I learned that you don't need to be changed, you are born to be gay and just be proud to be gay.” 

To watch Arisdo Gonzalez’s full interview, please click here. 

Like Arisdo Gonzalez, many members of the LGBTIQ community in Indonesia have been victims of harmful “conversion therapy” practices, which continue to be performed by  individuals, family members, medical professionals, religious and community leaders.

“Conversion therapy” is used as an umbrella term to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which have in common the belief that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) can and should be changed.

These are deeply harmful interventions that rely on the medically false idea that LGBTIQ persons are sick, inflicting severe pain and suffering, and resulting in long-lasting psychological and physical damage.

In 2020, the UN Independent Expert on SOGI, called for a global ban on “conversion therapy” and noted:

“Conversion therapy practices inflict severe pain and suffering on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse (LGBT) persons, often resulting in long-lasting psychological and physical damage,” and “such practices constitute an egregious violation of rights to bodily autonomy, health, and free expression of one's sexual orientation and gender identity”

But now, Indonesia has a chance to put an end to this, once and for all!

Sign now, to demand a comprehensive ban on “conversion therapy” in Indonesia.

This campaign is run by ILGA Asia together with GAYa Nusantara, Yayasan Pesona Bumi Pasundan, Pelangi Nusantara and Arus Pelangi.