http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/banda-aceh-deputy-mayor-pushes-for-bylaw-criminalizing-same-sex-relationships/Authors: Camelia Pasandaran & Nurdin Hasan Source: The Jakarta Post
"Homosexual men and women living in Indonesia's strictly conservative Aceh province would be publicly lashed 100 times under a proposed bylaw backed by the provincial capital's deputy governor. Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal called homosexuality "a social disease that should be eradicated," as she pushed for harsher bylaws against sexual behavior that runs counter to the region's adherence to Islamic Shariah Law." The region already has laws on intimacy between couples, but the police have nothing that they can charge same-sex couples with, the Deputy Mayor wishes to change that.
Gay rights activists call the proposed law a step backward. " "We're living in 2013, not in the Middle Ages," said Hartoyo, secretary-general of Our Voice, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy group. "It's sad to have a deputy mayor who could think that way... other countries have started to allow homosexual marriage, why coming up with such idea to punish the LGBT [community]?" "
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Note prior to reading: Banda Aceh is the capital of Aceh, which is a semi-independent region of Indonesia. Their laws, such as having their own interpretation of Shariah, is not followed in other areas of Indonesia.
