Conservative Indonesian Muslims break up gay meeting

Secular, modern Indonesia: 

"We promise not to hurt them," said Mohammad Chaeruddin, the Front's East Java chairman. "We have asked them not to give a statement to the media".

FROM EARTHTIMES.ORG:

Conservative Indonesian Muslims break up gay meeting

Posted : Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:37:28 GMT
By : dpa

Australasia World News

Surabaya, Indonesia - About 60 members of a conservative Indonesian Muslim group on Friday descended on a hotel where participants of an international gay and transgender conference were staying, demanding they leave the country.

Activists from the Front for the Defence of Islam gave the delegates from 13 countries attending the meeting of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association until Sunday to leave Indonesia.

The conference was due to be held from Friday through Sunday in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province and Indonesia's second-largest city, and had been expected to be attended by 200 participants from 16 countries.

But police said Wednesday that they would not issue a permit for the gathering after objections from Muslim groups, including the local branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, the country's authority on Islam.

The participants were staying at Surabaya's Oval Hotel, but it was not clear if they were holding a meeting when the Muslim protestors arrived there.

"We promise not to hurt them," said Mohammad Chaeruddin, the Front's East Java chairman. "We have asked them not to give a statement to the media."

Chaeruddin said homosexuality was "immoral" and must not be tolerated.

The group's members loitered in the lobby and did not make any attempt to chase the foreign guests.

Surabaya police chief Bahagia Dachi said his personnel would guarantee the security of the delegates.

"We will escort them to the airport," he said.

The Front for the Defence of Islam gained notoriety a few years ago when its members raided nightspots they accused of harbouring prostitutes during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Muslim groups have earlier warned that there would be demonstrations if the meeting was allowed to be held.

In Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, homosexuality is not punishable by law. It is, however, largely frowned upon by society although television comedy shows often feature transgender people and effeminate men.