The rise of political and religious conversation remains a threat to the Indonesian LGBT+ community who continue to be further marginalised in their society. Despite the country’s culturally and religiously diverse archipelago, topics including sexuality and sexual identity remain taboo in the country, leading many LGBT+ individuals to face all sorts of challenges.
To shed light on the struggles that members of Indonesia’s LGBT community undergo on a daily basis, a new documentary aims to share the experiences of four brave Indonesian LGBT individuals. Proud To Be Me provides insight into the lives of queer Indonesians, who’ve undergone challenges in accepting and embracing their sexual identities in a Muslim-majority country.
The documentary will be screened at the Treasury Theatre on Tuesday, October 31. It is a FREE screening and a panel discussion on the LGBT+ movement in Indonesia will accompany the film afterwards. Panellists include:
- Helen Pausacker (The University of Melbourne) – one of the organisers of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives’ annual history walk and Deputy Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS)
- Hendri Yulius (The University of Sydney) – author of several Indonesian publications on gender and cultural politics, such as ‘Coming Out’ and ‘Mantra Lilith’
- Amanda Octavianty – Producer and Filmmaker of Proud To Be Me
- A member of the Indonesian LGBT community living in Melbourne
To find out more details or register for the event, follow the Eventbrite link.