Claire Toureille

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Gay Couple Publicly Flogged 80 Times in Indonesia for Having Consensual Sex

A gay couple were publicly flogged in the Aceh province of Indonesia earlier today.

The two men were flogged 80 times for having gay sex, which is forbidden under local Muslim law.

In total, 15 people were publicly punished for “inappropriate behaviour,” including infractions such as drinking or selling alcohol and showing affection in public.

While Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population in the world, the Aceh province is the only province in the country to implement Sharia law.The province officials pledged to stop public demonstrations of the practice after another case of public flogging drew international outrage last year, however, the floggings remain.

According to AFP, the two men were the second gay couple to endure the punishment this year. Public flogging is a common occurrence in the region. It covers all sorts of crimes, including gambling, sex out of wedlock and the consumption of alcohol.

1,000 bystanders watched and encouraged the men carrying out the punishment, asking them to “flog them harder.” This included tourists from Malaysia.

According to Human Rights Watch, the local Sharia law “empowers members of the public as well as the special Sharia police to publicly identify and detain anyone suspected of violating its rules.”

A gay couple aged 20 and 23, were found guilty of having broken sharia rules in conservative Aceh province in 2017. (CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP/Getty)

An earlier case of public flogging outraged the international community in 2017. Two young men had been sentenced to received 85 floggings. Their flat was raided by vigilantes.

Human Rights Watch then called for Aceh to abandon Sharia law and for Indonesia’s President Jokowi Widodo to condemn the practice.

“The clock is ticking for Jokowi to demonstrate that his support of equal rights for all is not empty rhetoric. He needs to start by protecting these two young men from torture,” said Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director.

“Jokowi needs to be clear to Aceh’s authorities that flogging is torture for which they will be held to account,” he added.

The two men, respectively 20 and 23 years old, were still flogged in public. It was the first time that gay men were flogged for having consensual sex in Indonesia.

Widodo said he was a supporter of the LGBT community and called for the practice to cease. While officials in the province said they would abandon public floggings and continue the practice in prisons, they are yet to deliver.

In 2016, the then-deputy mayor warned locals of the “LGBT threat” and vowed to create a special team to “train” members of the LGBT community to return to “normal lives.”

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Gay Couple Stabbed Repeatedly for Holding Hands in Denver

A Denver gay couple was stabbed multiple times because they were holding hands.

Gabriel Roman and his boyfriend Christopher Huizar were enjoying a night out with friends when they were approached by a man yelling homophobic slurs at them just after midnight on Sunday, they claim.

In a matter of seconds, the man repeatedly stabbed both men as they tried to to run to safety. They were left with serious injuries. Huizar thinks the attack was triggered by the fact he and Roman were holding hands.

“There was blood everywhere, like so much blood,” he said.

According to Fox31, the pair were only a few blocks from home when a man addressed them with homophobic slurs, before running after them with his weapon.

“I remember him pulling me back and I think that’s when I got stabbed in my back,” recalled Roman.

Roman suffered deep stab wounds in his back and hand, while Huizar was stabbed in the throat.

“We’re running and I didn’t realise how bad it was until he’s like, ‘My hand!’ and that’s when I took my shirt off and I wrapped it around and there was blood everywhere, like so much blood,” said Huizar.

In the moment, the pair feared for both their lives.

“I’m thinking like, my boyfriend is going to die,” Huizar added.

The two finally managed to escape and collapsed in a 7/11 parking lot. Bystanders attended to their wounds and contacted 911.

Their attacker was eventually caught by the Denver police. Although he was arrested, they are still investigating the charges.

For Roman and Huizar, the wound runs deeper than the scars. Being attacked in their neighbourhood forced them to look at their community in a new, scary light.

“It’s way deeper than just the physical damage,” said Roman. “Of course we’re relieved this guy is caught or whatever, but there’s still that fright […] who else is out there like that?”

“It’s not going to stop me from being who I am or showing affection to my significant other but I will definitely be more cautious,” Roman added.

“We are not letting his define us. We love each other and wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone [else]. I’m just thankful we’re alive,” Huizar told the Gay Star News. 

Roman and Huizar believe the ordeal will make them stronger as a couple.

A visitor places flowers at a makeshift memorial during a vigil for victims of a shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida the previous day, in front of the United States embassy on June 13, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Adam Berry/Getty)

Hate crimes like this one are on the rise in the US. A 2016 FBI report on hate crime statistics showed that while 6,121 hate crimes were reported that year, 1,076 were based on sexual orientation bias. This showed an increase of 2 percent from the 2015 numbers.

124 were based on gender identity bias, targeting trans or non binary individuals, a 9 percent increase from the 2015 numbers.

However, the report noted that these numbers only represented d a portion of the hate crimes that happened that year, as reporting them to the FBI is not compulsory.