In October 2025, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto issued a presidential decree outlining the country’s national defense policy and the nonmilitary threats his administration identified as important to the nation’s security. Listed in the latter category, alongside terrorism, radicalism, and drug addiction, was “the promotion of LGBTQ+ culture,” as reported in the Jakarta Post.
While the decree drew concern from civil society organizations in Indonesia, particularly pro-democracy and queer rights groups, it initially received limited attention outside Indonesia. Last month, however, a wave of hate crimes targeted transgender women across the country, highlighting Prabowo’s decree and what activists have described as the worsening conditions for LGBTQ+ people in Indonesia.
Several transphobic incidents took place during July 14-16 of this year, all of which involved mobs attacking trans women specifically. In one particular instance in the West Java city of Bogor, over 15 trans women were doused with urine, forced to strip naked, and physically beaten in an incident that was recorded and later shared to social media. The online footage itself attracted more hate from some Indonesian netizens, who used slurs and called for further such attacks against trans people.
