Outcast: Being gay in Indonesia

Homosexuality is not a crime in Indonesia, but a push by hardline Islamic extremists has led the usage of a pornography law to target LGBT people, with public humiliations and ritual punishments.

In February 2019 Thomas Cristofoletti travelled to Jakarta and met “Bagus” who was incredible brave to told his story of coming out, being shunned by his family, and the frustrations of not being able to express himself.

“Bagus” is just one of the several LGBT people Thomas met together with writer Eduard Merigo and who decided to share their personal stories and allowed me to take their portraits.

Four years ago, Rio’s mother borrowed his tablet, logged into his Facebook account and found out his sexual orientation. She told the whole family. Later, in a moment of rage, she screamed at him, “I wish it was legal to kill you.”