75 Arrested in Indonesia for Alleged ‘Gay Party’
Indonesian police raided a private villa and arrested dozens of men in what rights groups call a discriminatory crackdown on LGBTQ people.
Police in Bogor, Indonesia, say they arrested 75 people for attending what they called a “gay party” at a villa in the Puncak area on June 22.
According to Amnesty International, 74 of those arrested were men and one was a woman.
Teguh Kumura, head of the Bogor Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit, told the Jakarta Globe that a joint task force of Bogor and Megamendung police raided the villa after receiving public reports of “suspicious activity” at the gathering.
While the event was described as a “family gathering,” Kumura noted that all participants were male.
Police claim they recovered sex toys, four condoms, and a sword allegedly used in a dance performance. They are also investigating four individuals believed to have organized the event.
All 75 attendees were taken to Bogor Police Headquarters for questioning and subjected to health checks, including HIV tests. According to Dr. Fusia Meidiawaty, head of the Bogor Regency Health Office, 30 individuals tested positive for HIV or syphilis.
LGBTQ advocates note that laws criminalizing homosexuality force people into closet themselves for fear of prosecution, harming their physical, mental, and sexual health. A 2023 study by Georgetown University’s HIV Policy Lab found that men who have sex with men in countries with anti-LGBTQ laws were five times more likely to be living with HIV — and 12 times more likely in places where those laws are actively enforced.
While consensual same-sex relationships aren’t explicitly illegal in Indonesia, homosexuality remains taboo. Police frequently raid suspected LGBTQ gatherings, and right-wing politicians regularly attack queer visibility to score political points. Even the band Coldplay faced protests in 2023 from conservative Muslim groups accusing them of promoting “gay propaganda.”
LGBTQ Indonesians have also been subjected to forced conversion therapy, often disguised as exorcisms, in attempts to “cure” their identity. In Aceh province, where Sharia law is enforced, same-sex activity is explicitly outlawed, with violators publicly shamed and caned.
Outside Aceh, same-sex activity can still be punished under vague laws banning “lewd conduct,” extramarital sex, or under Indonesia’s 2008 Pornography Law. The law broadly defines pornography to include not just explicit materials, but also acts considered “indecent” or contrary to “morality” or “community ethics.”
If convicted under the Pornography Law, those arrested could face up to 15 years in prison.
Amnesty International, which condemned the Bogor raid, noted that police recently arrested nine people at an alleged “gay sex party” in South Jakarta on May 24, and 56 others at a similar event on February 1.
“This discriminatory raid on a private villa is a blatant violation of human rights and privacy, and highlights the hostile environment for LGBTI people in Indonesia,” said Wirya Adiwena, deputy director of Amnesty International Indonesia. “The gathering broke no laws and posed no threat.”
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