Police Arrest 56 Men in “Gay Sex Party” Hotel Raid
The party's organizers have been charged under Indonesia's "anti-pornography" law and could face up to 15 years in jail.
Police in Indonesia have arrested 56 men who were discovered at a “gay sex party” during the raid of a hotel room in the capital city of Jakarta.
The men were arrested on February 1, according to police spokesperson Ade Ary Syam Indradi, and first reported by Reuters.
“The event was…merely based on pleasure that they wanted to seek,” Indradi said, adding that police discovered condoms and HIV medications at the party.
The party’s three lead organizers were named criminal suspects and were accused of facilitating “pornography” services, which can carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
While homosexuality is not illegal in most of Indonesia, including Jakarta, it is considered taboo in the Muslim-majority nation.
The province of Aceh enforces some provisions of Islamic criminal law (sharia), such as canings or beatings for same-sex relations, selling or producing alcohol, gambling, and adultery.
While the Jakarta hotel room raid appears to have uncovered a legitimate sex party, LGBTQ activists have accused authorities of abusing anti-pornography laws by claiming even innocent gatherings or parties hosted by people in private homes or businesses are “sex parties.”
“In the last 10 or 12 years, pretty conservative Islamic groups began to focus more and more on issues related to the LGBTQ community and to women being uncovered,” John Sifton, the Asia Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch, told Metro Weekly in an interview, noting that previously such groups had focused on scapegoating religious minorities.
According to Sifton, a growing amount of anti-LGBTQ sentiment reached its apex in 2017, when police began conducting raids of homes, bars, nightclubs, and other venues where LGBTQ people were believed to be congregating and arresting attendees.
The number of raids has tapered off in recent years, although they continue to occur.
Sifton says police often weaponize Indonesia’s anti-pornography law to justify arrests and any criminal charges stemming from them.
The law not only prohibits the possession of pornographic materials but more vaguely defined “pornographic activities,” which can range from sexually explicit acts to displays of same-sex affection to non-sexual activities like getting tested for HIV, distributing condoms, and even gathering in a public park.
LGBTQ activists have warned that such prosecutions have the potential to exacerbate the HIV epidemic by discouraging people from being tested for fear of outing themselves or being falsely accused of illicit activities. This is despite the fact most HIV transmissions in Indonesia occur among heterosexual individuals.
“The prosecution of people [under the anti-pornography law] is one problem,” Sifton said. “The other problem is the mistreatment of those who are arrested, who are sometimes beaten, extorted for money, have their property confiscated from them. In addition to the anti-pornography law, there are also provisions in the penal code against ‘obscene acts by others with third parties’ that they’ve used to prosecute people as well.”
Sifton notes that Indonesia adopted a new penal code in 2022 — set to take effect in December 2025 — that contains provisions outlawing extramarital sex and cohabitation, defined as “adultery.” Because same-sex marriage is outlawed in Indonesia, many activists say that the law will effectively criminalize anyone who is openly LGBTQ who either engages in sex or cohabitates with a partner.
“The police have shown again and again, if they get whipped up into a frenzy by Islamists, they will use whatever law they have on the books to prosecute people,” Sifton said.
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