On the outskirts of Yogyakarta is a small boarding school with a mission that seems out of place in Indonesia, the country with the most Muslim citizens of any country: all students are transgender women.

It is a rare oasis of acceptance for the LGBTI+ community across the Muslim world, according to an in-depth report by the Associated Press. Many Islamic countries consider homosexual sex a crime.

LGBTI+ people are routinely rejected by their families, denounced by Islamic authorities and persecuted by security forces. Calls to change this attitude from LGBTI+ friendly countries are usually dismissed as unjustified outside interference.

Al-Fath Islamic School in Yogyakarta was founded 14 years ago by Sinda Ratri, a transgender woman who had previously been concerned about whether her transition was a sin. Ultimately, she dedicated herself to empowering other transgender women to study Islam. The number of female students reached 60.

Among them is 55-year-old Al Boukori, who has suffered years of rejection but now, she told The Associated Press, she feels at home at school and hopes tolerance will slowly pick up. “We have to respect each other. to be tolerant, not to interfere in each other’s lives.

The situation of LGBTI+ people in the country

Compared to many Muslim countries, Indonesia is relatively tolerant. Dozens of LGBTI+ organizations operate freely. Only one conservative province, Aceh, which enforces sharia law, explicitly criminalizes same-sex relationships.

In Aceh last year, two men were publicly beaten after neighbors reported they were having sex. Earlier this year, Indonesian Vice President Maruf Amin, himself a Muslim cleric, said in a speech that LGBTI+ people are “deviant” and that same-sex relationships should be outlawed.

That stance was reinforced last week when the United States canceled a trip to Indonesia by a special envoy for LGBTI+ rights following objections from the country’s influential Islamic group. “We cannot accept visitors whose purpose is to harm the noble values ​​of the religion and culture of our country,” said Anwar Abbas, vice president of the Indonesian Ulema Council, a Quranic organization.

Dede Otomo, founder of LGBTI+ rights organization GAYa NUSANTARA, said his community is accepting differently. Speaking to The Associated Press, she cited several examples, such as a transgender woman elected to head her village council, but said there was little hope of meaningful government support.

“We still cannot imagine that an anti-discrimination law will be passed,” Oetomo said.

This is the norm in the Muslim and Arab world, Rasha Younes, senior fellow at Human Rights Watch, which investigates abuses against LGBTQI+ people in the Middle East and North Africa, told The Associated Press. “LGBTQI+ people will continue to live on the margins unless governments repeal these laws.”

Source: Associated Press.