Posted in: Talking Indonesia

On 28 March 2025, in downtime Jakarta across from the Sarinah department store, an unlikely group of protesters gathered holding signs and making speeches. The crowd largely consisted of middleclass women of various ages, gathered under the name ‘Suara Ibu Indonesia’ (Voices of Indonesian Mothers). For the organisers, the choice of name and location for their protest was deliberately designed to evoke a moment in Indonesia’s past, now 27 years ago.

How do queer Muslims maintain their faith and religious practices in an increasingly hostile environment? While in the West religion and queerness are often seen as incompatible, how and why do LGBTQI+ Indonesian Muslims hold onto their faith? How does progressive Islam inform the work of their Allies and what support do they provide?

In Melbourne and across Australia, Indonesian diaspora communities are reimagining what it means to celebrate their cultural identity through art, food, and the simple act of nongkrong (hanging out). But what happens when these cultural practices become spaces for exploring complex questions about belonging, identity, and ethical settlement on Aboriginal land?