LGBTQ rights in Indonesia
LGBTQ rights in Indonesia | |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Not criminalized in private relationship. Illegal under morality laws and in Aceh |
| Penalty | Up to 1 year imprisonment |
| Gender identity | Legal (after sex reassignment surgery and judicial approval) |
| Military | No |
| Discrimination protections | No |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex couples |
| Adoption | No |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Indonesia face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Although same-sex sexual activity is legal in most parts of the country, homosexuality remains disapproved and stigmatized in Indonesian society. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Indonesia provides no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, nor does it prohibit hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In Aceh, homosexuality is illegal under Sharia law and it is punishable by flogging or imprisonment.
According to a 2025 data from the Pew Research Center, opposition to homosexuality in Indonesia remains high, with 93% of respondents labeling it "morally unacceptable," a figure comparable to Nigeria (96%).
Various forms of conversion therapy are widely practiced and openly advertised in Indonesia including treatment in rehabilitation centres and corrective rape from family members against lesbian women.
In 2016, 2022 and 2025, Indonesia voted against the United Nations independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In 2022, the Indonesian government amended its penal code to prohibit sexual activity outside of marriage, a provision set to take in force on 2 January 2026. Unmarried partners who engage in sex can face up to one year in prison. Although the national criminal code does not explicitly criminalize same-sex relationships, same-sex marriage is not legally recognized, effectively placing all sexual activity between same-sex partners outside legal recognition.
Raids on private "gay parties" by police have occurred a number of times in the 2010s and 2020s.
On 19 October 2025, police in Surabaya arrested 34 men accused of having gay sex and publicly paraded them through the streets in front of the press. Photos show the suspects barefoot and bound together at the wrists by zip ties being paraded in front of a press scrum on 22 October.