REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By. Firmansyah, Co-Founder of SGRC UI
The recent media attention upon who I am, why me and my friends set up the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies Universitas Indonesia (SGRC UI), and what does it has to do with the issue LGBT, prompted me to write this post.
In addition, the push to clarify what me and my organization (SGRC UI) stands on became even more important as a form of public education because sadly, such function has eluded one of the most famous national news agency in this country which has turned its back to pursue commercial purposes by only promoting controversial titles and contents, in order to achieve high ratings without checking the truth of its content first.
What puzzles us is that, a national newspaper of the Republika caliber made headlines with the title of 'Pengakuan Mahasiswa UI: Kelompok LGBT dan Tewasnya Akseyna (The Confession of a UI College Student: LGBT Groups and the Death of Akseyna)', but the content of the news was about the LGBT Peer Support Network. Not only the title was misleading, but the content of the article itself didn’t quite fit the facts.
Our organization, SGRC UI was defined as an ‘Organisasi atau komunitas bagi kalangan Lesbian, Gay, Biseksual, dan Transgender (LGBT) di kalangan mahasiswa, mahasiswi, dan para dosen (Organization or community for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students and teaching staffs).’ (Republika, January 22th 2016).
I, Firmansyah, one of several people involved in the establishment of SGRC UI refuse the limitation imposed on the scope of our organization’s activities. As listed in the mission statement (https://sgrcui.wordpress.com/perihal/mission-statement/), our organization moves in the scope of the study of sexuality, reproduction, and sexual orientation. Our first seminar which raised the topic of Sexuality and Freedom with Zoya Amirin and Rocky Gerung as the speakers was very well received among UI’s civitas academica and the general community. Evidently during that day, Friday, February 13th 2015, the X Auditorium in the Faculty of Humanities (FIB) was overcrowded, not even fit to accommodate the participants’ enthusiasm.
In addition, SGRC UI also held another seminar which discussed the topic of Kartini and Freedom highlighting a concept of modern feminism born from the Indonesian culture, Workshop and Training on the Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Violence on Campus with a module that can be accessed via (http://bit.ly/ModulSGRCUI) which publication was assisted by UI’s Public Relations Division using the Twitter account of @UIUpdate, and many other activities that were held and published from the early years of the organization right to the present time.
SGRC UI’s decision to cooperate with Melela.org in creating a LGBT Peer Support Network was not made without careful consideration. We are fully aware of the high risk involved, as evident by the rampant media attention on our organization lately.
The reason why we create a LGBT Peer Support Network is due to the fact that LGBT teens in Indonesia are more prone to suicide as a result of rejection and discrimination they received from the society. In several international scientific journals, LGBT teens who received family rejection during the adolescent and development periods are 8.4 times more likely to commit suicide, 5.9 times more likely to suffer from depression, and 3.4 times more likely to use drugs than those who aren’t (Ryan, C. et al: 2009).
To avoid the risk of suicide, depression, and drug use, LGBT teens need the support of many different parties. Teens who received information about their sexuality, whether from magazines, books, or counseling have much more higher confidence than their peers who don’t (Snapp, Shannon D. et. al: 2015).
In addition, the LGBT group is also susceptible to the risk of violence. The Arus Pelangi organization has published a report on LGBT teens. In the research findings, 65.2% of LGBT individuals seek help from their friends when suffering from oppression and violence, while only 18.7% seek help from their families. Hence the Peer Support Network which provides assistance based upon companionship is relevant to the needs of the community. According to the research, the biggest source of violence, about 46%, comes from people they don’t know, which makes this even more interesting. Violence comes from a sense of dislike, but to feel like itself, wouldn’t people have to get to know each other better before deciding like or dislike? Finally, please don’t let hatred make you act unfairly to the people around you.
Thank you.
Source:
Arus Pelangi, KSM, PLUSH 2013/ Menguak Stigma, Kekerasan, dan Diskriminasi pada LGBT di Indonesia (2013)
Ryan, C., Huebner, D., Diaz, R. M., & Sancez, J. dalam "Family Rejection as A Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White dan Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Audlts”. Journal of Pediatrics (2009)
Snapp, Shannon D., Watson, Ryan J., Russell, Stephen T., Diaz, Rafael M., Ryan, Caitlin, Ryan, "Social Support Network for LGBT Young Adults: Low Cost Strategies". lFamily Relations: Interdisiplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies (2015)
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