JAKARTA, May 24 (NNN-ANTARA) – The Indonesian government summoned British Ambassador, Owen Jenkins, yesterday, to seek clarification regarding the raising of a rainbow flag at the embassy’s area.
Rainbow flag is widely considered as the symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer pride, and LGBT social movements.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry said, the action was “highly insensitive” with local culture.
Local media reported that the British embassy had sparked criticism from Muslim majority groups, particularly those on social media, after posting on its official Instagram social media account last Wednesday, a rainbow flag flown alongside the United Kingdom flag at its front yard to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
The post was accompanied by a message of support for LGBT rights.
“The government would like to remind foreign envoys, to respect the sensitivity of our cultural and religious values,” the ministry’s spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, told reporters yesterday.
In Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, same-sex relationships are still a taboo.– NNN-ANTARA
