Last Friday in Jakarta two transgender people accepted an award from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).
This was the first time the alliance had designated its freedom of expression award to sexual and gender minorities—and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Since January 2016, the basic rights and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Indonesia have come under an unprecedented attack following an onslaught of hateful and misinformed rhetoric from government officials and politicians.
Receiving the award on behalf of Forum LGBTIQ Indonesia, a national umbrella organisation, was transgender man Abhipraya Ardiansyah.
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Photo by Benson Kua [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons