Felix Nathaniel – Social media has been abuzz after the TNI’s (Indonesian military) official Twitter account carried a cartoon about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) practices. The following day, the police (Polri) also spoke out on the issue saying that LGBT is a disease that requires early prevention.

Initially national police headquarters (Mabes Polri) public information division head (Kabag Penum) Senior Commissioner Asep Adi Saputra spoke about the importance of preventing sexual harassment through the modus operandi of child grooming. Then, all of a sudden, he also talked about the importance of preventing LGBT.

“As a consequence we are saying that the emergency of child grooming and LGBT must also be given attention by all parties. Don’t let it become the duty of particular elements, everyone must work together”, said Saputra speaking in the Menteng suburb of Central Jakarta on Saturday August 3.

According to Saputra, supervision by parents should not just focus on the problem of child grooming, but also on the problem of LGBT. Saputra depicted LGBT as a “disease” that requires early prevention, primarily though the inclusion of religious values.

“The thing that can fortify our children to avoid perpetrators such as groomers or also becoming victims of child grooming or also becoming people who suffer the disease of LGBT is keiimanan (spirituality) and ketaqwaan (piety) which we have to instill early in children”, he said.

“If we are already saying there’s an emergency of child grooming then this is also the case with LGBT, so once again everyone must feel they are being called upon, particularly religious leaders”, he said.

Earlier, the TNI’s official Twitter account @Puspen_TNI uploaded a comic strip about LGBT in which explains the abbreviation LGBT and the causes and consequences of LGBT.

The information provided on the account however is incomplete. In the comic it states that LGBT is caused by environmental and hereditary factors or trauma as a child. The comic also says that LGBT is one of the factors causing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Polisi Sebut LGBT Adalah Penyakit Yang Harus Dicegah Sejak Dini”.]

Source: https://tirto.id/polisi-sebut-lgbt-adalah-penyakit-yang-harus-dicegah-sejak-dini-efy