KAMI BERANI coalition, which consists of 24 civil society organizations (CSOs), regrets the widespread encouragement of discriminatory policies in the form of anti-LGBT regional regulations (Perda) in various regions in Indonesia.

Entering the political year, regional and national politicians and leaders also chose to use an identity politics approach that scapegoats and further marginalizes groups that are considered wrong by the majority interpretation. One that has been widely echoed lately is the discourse on the establishment of an anti-LGBT regional regulation.

Based on the monitoring of the Kami Berani Coalition, in the period December 2022 until this release was released, there were 4 regions in Indonesia that stated that they would submit discriminatory regional regulations that were anti-LGBT, namely: Garut, Bandung, Makassar and Medan.

This discriminatory regional regulation which is full of hatred is widespread as a result of practical politics carried out by politicians with the aim of gaining votes by using identity politics. Politicians both nationally and in the regions unfortunately do not have a good policy framework to offer the public. Even though this practical politics will be dangerous for social, political, economic, legal and security stability in society. In addition, this will further distance and hinder the achievement of development targets to be achieved by the Indonesian government.

For example, regional regulations that act in the name of morality, such as the Regional Regulation on P4S for Bogor City, which are predicted as an attempt by the Bogor City government to spread HIV/AIDS, will only exacerbate the health response in Bogor City itself. Global data shows that discriminatory policies will actually make people living with HIV or vulnerable to HIV increasingly reluctant to seek health services, for fear of stigma and discrimination.

Such a moral and identity-based legal and policy approach distances the public from the crisis that Indonesia is actually facing. Currently, Indonesia is still one of the most corrupt countries in the world, with a corruption perception index below 40. Indonesia's rule of law index has decreased from year to year and Indonesia is currently ranked 68th out of 139 countries in terms of upholding the rule of law. In terms of education, only 19% of Indonesia's population aged between 25-34 years have received it a high. This number is very low compared to other OECD countries, the average level of higher education is around 47%.In addition, the state does not seem to have learned from previous cases of gross human rights violations that used identity politics as a tool. Even though President Jokowi's speech on January 11, 2023 at the State Palace regarding past human rights violations, acknowledged past gross human rights violations and promised to restore victims' rights in a fair and wise manner without eliminating judicial settlement. President Jokowi emphasized in his speech ”I and the government are making serious efforts so that gross human rights violations will not happen again in Indonesia in the future".

Nono Sugiono, Head of Arus Pelangi, one of the spokespersons for the Coalition, said "the government has not learned from cases of intolerance which were human rights violations that occurred in the past. Intolerance and hatred based on identity divides the nation's children, and makes Indonesia an increasingly underdeveloped country because the focus of politicians is on practical politics that plays on the identity of vulnerable groups" he added.

The commitment made by President Jokowi and the data above show that the Indonesian government has a lot of homework to be done and stop distracting society with issues of morality and identity politics.

If the State continues to use this to discriminate against and scapegoat vulnerable groups, then Indonesia will increasingly fall into poverty, disparity and instability. Through this press release, the KAMI BERANI Coalition would like to convey a message of demand to:

1. The state to stop all forms of condoning the practice of spreading hatred and intolerance towards minority and vulnerable groups including LGBT as a form of commitment to fulfilling human rights; in particular:

1. Call on local governments to revoke discriminatory regional regulations and stop efforts to make other discriminatory policies;

2. Call on the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to carry out an executive review and impose sanctions on local governments that form discriminatory regional regulations/perda;

3. Encourage the formation of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that protects minority and vulnerable groups in Indonesia;

2. Inviting the public not to vote for unjust candidates for leaders who use identity politics and are based on hatred against a group in the next general election;

3. Asking the media not to spread hate and intolerance practices towards minority groups, including LGBT groups.

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KAMI BERANI, which consists of civil society organizations working on human rights and democracy issues, consists of Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI), Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Masyarakat, LBH Jakarta, Arus Pelangi, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, Human Right Working Group (HRWG), Support Group and Resources Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC Indonesia), Sanggar SWARA, Serikat Jurnalis untuk Keberagaman (SEJUK), Transmen Indonesia, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), KontraS, Crisis Response Mechanism (CRM), Free To Be Me, Cangkang Queer, Petrasu, Komunitas Sehati Makassar (KSM), Indonesian Judicial Research Society (IJRS), Dialoka, GWL-Ina, Jaringan Transgender Indonesia (JTID), Jakarta Feminis, Puskapa, Imparsial.

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