Gay rights in Indonesia narrowed sharply on January 2, 2026, when a new national Criminal Code took effect and made all sex and cohabitation outside marriage a crime. Because Indonesian law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, every same-sex relationship now sits inside the reach of that code. One province, Aceh, goes further and punishes same-sex conduct with public caning under Islamic criminal law. Outside the statute books, police routinely use pornography and public-decency laws to raid gatherings and prosecute gay men, and no national law protects anyone from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
What the New Criminal Code Criminalizes
Law Number 1 of 2023, effective January 2, 2026, replaced the Dutch colonial-era penal code. Two provisions matter most for same-sex couples. Article 411 criminalizes sexual intercourse outside a legal marriage, with a maximum of one year in prison. Article 412 criminalizes cohabitation between unmarried partners, with a maximum of six months.
Both are complaint-based offenses. A prosecution can only begin if someone with a direct family relationship to the accused files a formal report. For a married person, that means a spouse. For an unmarried person, only a parent or child can file.1Constitutional Court of Indonesia. Adultery Crime Will Be Prosecuted if Reported by Husband or Wife or Parents or Children The state cannot open these cases on its own initiative.
The complaint requirement sounds like a safeguard, but it works differently for same-sex partners. Heterosexual couples can shield themselves by marrying. Same-sex couples cannot. Every same-sex relationship, however long-standing, permanently satisfies the elements of both offenses, and a disapproving parent needs only to walk into a police station.
Enforcement is likely to vary. Socially conservative regions may see aggressive use of these provisions; larger cities with more tolerant attitudes may see fewer complaints. But the law applies nationwide.
Aceh Province and Islamic Criminal Law
Aceh is the only Indonesian province with special autonomy to apply Islamic law across daily life.2Government of Aceh. Shariah Law in Aceh Its Islamic criminal code, the Qanun Jinayat (Provincial Law Number 6 of 2014), directly prohibits same-sex sexual conduct. Article 63 addresses male same-sex acts (liwath) and Article 64 addresses female same-sex acts (musahaqah). Both carry identical maximum penalties: 100 lashes of public caning, a fine of 1,000 grams of pure gold, or 100 months of imprisonment.
The Wilayatul Hisbah, a dedicated Islamic police force, carries out inspections and raids, working with regular police and the Civil Service Police Unit for serious offenses. Cases go through Aceh’s Sharia courts rather than the standard civil courts used elsewhere. Public caning draws crowds and is treated as a deterrent, and the resulting exposure extends the punishment well past the physical pain.
Does Aceh’s Islamic Code Apply to Non-Muslims?
The Qanun Jinayat can reach non-Muslims in three situations: when a non-Muslim commits an offense jointly with a Muslim, when a non-Muslim voluntarily submits to Islamic proceedings, or when the offense is not covered by the national Criminal Code. That third route was the main opening before 2026, because consensual adult same-sex conduct fell outside the old national code. Now that the national code covers sex outside marriage, the jurisdictional picture is more complicated, but non-Muslims in Aceh still face real risk of being pulled into Sharia proceedings.
Pornography, Decency, and Digital Content Laws
Law Number 44 of 2008, the Pornography Law, is one of the most frequently used tools against gay Indonesians. It defines prohibited content to include “deviant sexual intercourse” and expressly reads that category to include same-sex acts. Penalties depend on the offense. Providing pornographic services carries six months to six years in prison and fines of 250 million to 3 billion rupiah. Making a person the object of pornographic content carries one to twelve years and fines of 500 million to 6 billion rupiah. Facilitating obscene acts for commercial purposes carries up to ten years.
The statute’s language stretches well past what most people picture as pornography. Prosecutors have used it against men attending private social gatherings, treating the gathering itself as evidence of facilitating obscene acts. Condoms and lubricant have been introduced as proof of criminal activity.
The Electronic Information and Transactions Law adds a digital layer. Article 27 prohibits distributing electronic content that violates “decency,” a term the statute never defines. Violations carry up to six years in prison and fines up to one billion rupiah.3JICA. Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions Authorities use it to block websites, close social media accounts, and target dating apps, and content tied to same-sex relationships consistently gets classified as indecent.
How Police Enforcement Actually Works
The formal statutes tell only part of the story. Police regularly conduct raids targeting gay men, combining the pornography law with older provisions on facilitating obscene acts. The pattern spans multiple cities and years.
- In 2017, a police raid on a Jakarta sauna detained 131 people; ten men were sentenced to between two and three years under the pornography law.
- That same year, a raid on a private gathering in Surabaya produced seven convictions with sentences of 18 to 30 months.
- In 2018, police in West Java raided a private home where five men had gathered, presenting condoms and lubricant as evidence.
- In 2020, the mayor of Depok publicly ordered police to raid private homes to “prevent the spread of LGBT.”
Even when charges are eventually dropped, an arrest brings public exposure, job loss, family rupture, and social ostracism.
Local Bylaws Outside Aceh
Dozens of regency-level and city-level bylaws (peraturan daerah, or perda) add another layer of risk. These ordinances regulate public morality and often classify same-sex conduct as prostitution or immoral behavior. Palembang categorizes homosexuality and lesbianism as forms of prostitution. Several districts in West Sumatra treat same-sex relations as adultery. A city-level bylaw in Tasikmalaya requires Muslims to avoid same-sex acts. Padang Panjang directly prohibits homosexual and lesbian acts, with or without payment.
Transgender women (waria) are particularly exposed, frequently arrested under anti-prostitution provisions and jailed according to the sex listed on their national identity card rather than their lived gender. The central government has authority to invalidate local bylaws that contradict higher law, but Jakarta has generally not intervened against morality-based ordinances.
Marriage, Inheritance, and Adoption
Law Number 1 of 1974 defines marriage as “a relationship of body and soul between a man and a woman as husband and wife with the purpose of establishing a happy and lasting family founded on belief in God Almighty.”4Cambridge Core. Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 of the Year 1974 on Marriage That language leaves no room for same-sex marriage or civil unions, and no court has recognized one. The law applies to all Indonesian citizens regardless of religion.5Law Library of Congress. Indonesia: Inter-Religious Marriage
The downstream effects cover most of civil life. Same-sex partners have no inheritance rights from each other, cannot hold joint property as a married couple would, and are excluded from spousal insurance and pension benefits. If one partner dies, the surviving partner has no legal standing to make medical decisions, claim remains, or stay in a shared home held in the deceased’s name.
Adoption follows the same pattern. Government Regulation Number 54 of 2007 allows single individuals to adopt with special ministerial permission, but there is no provision for joint adoption by same-sex couples, and no documented case exists of ministerial permission being granted to an openly LGBT applicant.
Discrimination at Work and in Daily Life
The Manpower Law (Law Number 13 of 2003) guarantees equal employment opportunity “without discrimination” and bars firing workers based on religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, race, gender, physical condition, or marital status.6Legal Information Institute. Law No. 13 of 2003 Concerning Manpower Sexual orientation is not on that list, and repeated proposals to add it have gone nowhere.
In practice, an employer can dismiss someone for being gay or transgender without violating any national labor statute. Labor courts offer no route, and no government agency investigates. The same gap runs through housing, healthcare, and public accommodation. No national law prevents a landlord from refusing a same-sex couple, a hospital from denying visitation to a same-sex partner, or a business from refusing service.
Legal Recognition for Transgender People
Changing the gender marker on the national electronic identity card (e-KTP) requires a court order, but no statute or Supreme Court regulation sets out clear criteria. Each petition depends on the individual judge. Courts frequently demand a medical certificate showing completed gender-affirming surgery or hormonal treatment, a psychiatric evaluation, and extensive documentation.
The administrative system creates its own barriers. Obtaining an identity card requires a Family Card (Kartu Keluarga), and many transgender people have been pushed out of their family households. Without a Family Card, official identification becomes very hard to obtain, which then blocks access to healthcare, banking, employment, and government services. The e-KTP system recognizes only male and female. The legal basis for gender-marker changes rests on the Population Administration Law (Law Number 23 of 2006), which allows amendments to civil records based on court determinations, but the absence of implementing regulations leaves the process slow, expensive, and uncertain.
Media Visibility and Online Life
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) issued a directive banning television and radio programs that portray LGBT lives as “normal,” justifying the ban as necessary to prevent children from imitating or accepting such behavior. Broadcasters self-censor, and any sympathetic or neutral depiction of same-sex relationships draws regulatory scrutiny.
Combined with the ITE Law’s restrictions on digital content, the result is a legal environment where LGBT Indonesians are largely absent from mainstream media. Online platforms remain the primary space for community, but they operate under constant threat of content removal, platform blocking, and criminal prosecution.