Religion Dispatches
…g alone. My local friends were unanimous that I would just love Ramadan in Indonesia. I didn’t. I love Indonesia. I could easily say it is my favorite place in the world (so far). But what my friends enjoyed about Ramadan in their home country was both the public manifestation of the fast: from the muahdan calling “sahour, sahour” (the bahasa pronunciation) at the wee hours of the morning from a loudspeaker, really enough to wake any one over slee…
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…ttle bit of white on white embroidery design on the top of the bodice. The Indonesian ones have little flowers embroidered through out the entire dress. Plus, the Indonesian ones have padding in the shoulders, go figure that out? I’d take a dart over padding, personally. I have enough white scarves anyway, and my regular prayer outfit from Indonesia covers everything with a long enough scarf, I don’t need long sleeves and a sarong skirt with no st…
Read More…greater acceptance for people of diverse sexual and gender identities. In Indonesia, some scholars propose a humanist interpretation of Islam inclusive of LGBT people, students and faculty at some Islamic studies universities are exploring diverse genders and sexualities in the course of their studies. Although only seven percent (7%) of the population in the region are Christian, Christianity remains influential in the region, particularly in fo…
Read More…is may be the first time news has broken of women being arrested under the codes’ prohibition on lesbianism in Malaysia, said Justice for Sisters’s Thilaga Sulathireh. Scotland: Clergy Leaving Church of Scotland; LGBTs Debate Leaving UK The Scotsman reports this week that two more clergy members have left the Church of Scotland in protest of the denomination’s “continuing drift” from the Bible, including the naming of gay clergy. They have applied…
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…in a spate of high-profile police actions against gay clubs and parties in Indonesia this year that have called the country’s reputation for tolerance into question. With the exception of the ultra-conservative Aceh province in northern Sumatra, where Islamic law is enforced and two men were publicly flogged last month for gay sex, homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population. … Activists say police targeting…
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…is views on homosexuality did not represent those of the Methodist Church. Indonesia: Trans boarding school feels anti-LGBT backlash The Guardian profiles Shinta Ratri, founder of the world’s only Islamic transgender boarding school. According to Shinta, transgender people in Indonesia find it hard to pray at ordinary mosques, where men and women are divided and they often elicit hostile reactions from other congregants. It was for this reason tha…
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…sents a much different global reality. Here the value at stake is not just freedom of speech, but freedom of conscience. The real contest is not between atheists and believers, but between those who affirm the equality of all persons of conscience and those who deny it. Aan was arrested in a small town in West Sumatra on January 18 after a number of local residents assaulted him at work in an act of self-styled vigilantism. They were reacting to s…
Read More…lation paving the way for such unions passed all stages in the Oireachtas. Indonesia: More on new Sharia Law on Aceh Province We reported last week that a new Sharia law going into effect in Indonesia’s Aceh province included caning as a sentence for homosexuality. Reuters has since reported with more details about the new law. Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province has enacted a strict Islamic criminal code, local government officials said late o…
Read More…riminatory rhetoric and policy decisions harmed the privacy, security, and free expression rights of people across the country, Human Rights Watch said. Earlier this month the US State Department encouraged Indonesia “to respect and uphold international rights and standards by ensuring equal rights and protections for all of its citizens.” Uganda: Profile of advocates for LGBT equality At the Daily Beast, Tim Teeman profiles LGBT-equality activist…
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…off the southern tip of Spain. United Kingdom: Former Tory leader opposes ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools Lord Norman Tebbit, a former Conservative Party chair, spoke out against “promotion” of homosexuality in the schools, saying “I think it is damaging to children to introduce uncertainty into their minds.” Kenya: Activist profiled The Star’s Lydia Matata wrotes about gender non-conforming activist Joji Baro. China: Most LGBT people fear…
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