FEATURE
Indonesian LGBT activists and organizations demonstrate in Medan in observance of the 2013 International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Credit: RUNS (Rainbow United of North Sumatera).
CONQuering Hate An on-the-ground report on LGBT experiences in Indonesia and Southeast Asia By
Daniel Headstrong, with an introduction by Alex Willow [To protect the identity of the authors, pseudonyms have been employed. –Ed.]
Many countries around the world are seeing a wave of change, sometimes as subtle as an acknowledgement of a person’s preferred gender pronoun(s). This wave of change is often driven by the younger population, towards recognition and acceptance of people with diverse gender identities or sexual orientations. Unsurprisingly and dishearteningly, it has been met with often violent, always oppressive resistance from status-quo groups who tout religion, culture, or ‘values’ as their primary reasons for rejecting those who do not identify as straight, or as their given binary gender. The conflation of LGBT-identity expression with having a mental disease or propensity for sexual abuse by voices in the media and politics draws a monstrous image that feeds into the violent backlash and marginalization 74 | Boston Pride 2016
of those in the LGBT community. Generations of societal expectations and beliefs heavily influence this resistance, and so countries like those in Southeast Asia find themselves at a precipice of change. Change away from ‘traditional values,’ from heteronormative and ciscentered privilege, from hate and fear. The account below is written by a bright, wonderful, creative, sweet soul of a person that I am so grateful to have as a friend. I am also thankful to him for sharing a piece of himself with the rest of us through this story. The text reflects his voice, and may therefore have culturally contextual phrases or words here and there. [In order to preserve the integrity of his voice, these phrases and words have been retained in the printed version. –Ed.]
