Earlier this year Lawrences had a delightful time on the Indonesian Island of Pulau Weh, off the north coast of Sumatra, in Aceh province. The Island and the resort that we stayed at were delightful places, so much so that I have gone out of my way to recommend both to lots of people. Relatives are heading over to the same island and resort very soon based on our collective recommendations.
While we were there preparations for the Indonesian election were well under way with plenty of campaign posters, banners and slogans on display. Many of the posters included iconographic images to help convey the messages of the party in question. One particular image showed a woman dancing with a red line through it clearly suggesting that a vote for this party would be a vote for outlawing women wearing dresses from dancing.
Similarly, non electoral signs were on display at some of the beaches where bikinis were apparently prohibited. I wasn’t going to wear one, but then I reckoned that the sign wasn’t aimed at me. (The radical in me was tempted though just to see what the reaction would be.)
The news coming from Aceh Province today though is not good. Two young men being publicly beaten for having consensual sex with each other. The pictures posted on The Guardian and BBC’s website make for chilling viewing showing a hooded human beating another human in front of a crowd of men who are calling for the cane to be used again and again. “Lagi!” is the call.
Not only is this an act of state tolerated barbarism but it is also a complete waste of time. For centuries, and for a wide range of misplaced reasons, humans have sought to demonise and punish fellow human beings for the simple act of loving who they choose to love. Shamefully it has taken large parts of the world a much longer time than it should have done to realise that humans have to be treated equally in love and law and now many countries across the world allow adults to marry, co-habit with or simply enjoy partnerships with another adult whom they love regardless of their sex.
As can be seen from Aceh there is still a long way to go in many areas before real equality is welcomed and then enforced. The comments from the Mayor of Aceh “We do not hate the people, we just hate what they do,” demonstrate that this small region has a long way to go.
My thoughts are with those two men this evening who appear to have done nothing wrong apart from being themselves together.
I am a fully committed secularist when it comes to governance and politics and believe that human issues should be dealt with in a humane way free from religious teachings or dogma. I also support the freedom to practise the peace loving religion of any person’s choice. For me the two are entirely possible.
Lawrences now have some tricky choices to make about Aceh. It is a beautiful province and, following the tsunami, continues to need as much support and as many tourist dollars as possible. Aceh officials publicly beating fellow Aceh citizens makes me question whether it is right to boycott the province and its economy or whether it is better to visit again and ask the difficult questions that really need asking.