Jakarta - Indonesian President has issued a Presidential Regulation in 2025 on the country's general defense policy for five years - 2025 to 2029 - last year, but has not become public attention until recently when a student press from the Universitas Indonesia (SUMA) highlighted a plan from the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) to submit a new draft of bill to the House of Representatives to treat spreading the culture of LGBTQ as a crime.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country with about 80 percent of the population believe in Islamic teachings although the the archipelagic nation is secular. The MUI is the country's national regulatory body consists of Muslim ulemas.
The President Regulation number 111 year 2025 on Indonesia's General National Defense Policy for 2025-2029 describes national defense threats into three categories - military, non-military, and hybrid - and LGBTQ is part of non-military danger along with separatism, terrorism, piracy, stealing natural resources, misuse and distributing narcotics, online scamming, and online gambling.
"And the spreading of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) culture," wordings in the presidential regulation describe the non-military threat
Following the presidential regulation, the MUI seek tougher rule in a from of law, therefore, the religious body drafts a new bill aimed to deter the spreading of LGBTQ among the nation by giving certain punishment for such kind of act.
"After the presidential regulation, there must be a legal umbrella in a from of Law that to be issued by the House of Representatives, so the perpetrators can be charged legally as a shock therapy," Deputy Chairperson of the MUI's Advisory Board Kiai Muhyiddin told reporters in a press conference on Sunday, 5 July 2026 in Jakarta.
Several members of the House of Representatives expressed their support for the MUI's draft of bill on LGBT Crimes as well as the Presidential Regulation No. 1111 year 2025 that was issued in October 2025.
Meanwhile, may be not all of LGBTQ Indonesians aware of the new regulation and the plan of the MUI to send a draft of bill to the House aimed to impose punishment to those who spread LGBTQ culture, like Nova -only wants to be mentioned with a single name- who doesn't understand about the situation.
“LGBTQ person or not can become a threat to the state if the government doesn’t know its people’s life purposes,” Nova, a queer, living in Jakarta told the Asia Globe on Saturday, 11 July 2026 in responding to the MUI's legislation plan and the presidential regulation.
