Indonesia moves to classify homosexuality as a mental disorder

Indonesia is moving to classify homosexuality as a mental disorder ahead of a push to criminalize gay sex and all sex outside of heterosexual marriage.

On Friday the Indonesian Health Ministry announced it was set to publish a medical guide based on two reports from the past two years.

One of the reports, published in 2016 by the Indonesia Psychiatrists Association (PDSKJI) describes gay and bisexual people as being at risk from emotional problems such as depression due to “identitity crisises” and describes people who are transgender as being susceptible to “mental diseases”.

A second report from the Health Ministry declares that homosexuality is “against the ethos of the country”.

The World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from it’s list of mental disorders in 1990. While the American Psychiatric Association removed the classification 45 years ago in 1973.

Homosexuality has never previously been illegal in Indonesia, except in the province of Aceh which follows Islamic Sharia law. There has however been a push in recent years to criminalize homosexuality, and all sex outside of marriage.

Police in Indonesia have also been using the country’s vaguely worded anti-pornography laws to target gay venues and meeting place to arrest same sex attracted people.

OIP Staff