The Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s main Islamic body, on Thursday refused to receive the U.S. special envoy to promote LGTBIQ rights, Jessica Stern, who was to visit the country as part of a tour that includes visits to Vietnam and the Philippines.
«The council declares that it categorically rejects the presence of special envoy Jessica Stern in Indonesia between December 7 and 9,» said the body’s deputy secretary general, Anwar Abbas, according to reports from Antara news agency.
He explained that her presence «will only harm the religion and culture of the Indonesian people», and that although «as a religious and civilized nation it is accustomed to respecting guests, (the government) cannot accept those whose purpose is to damage and spoil the values of the people».
«The behavior of LGTBI people is very dangerous because it is against nature,» he said, before adding that «if this behavior is allowed, humanity will become extinct,» as reported by CNN Indonesia.
In this line, he argued that religion contemplates a man marrying a woman and stressed that «if a man marries a man or a woman marries a woman, they cannot have children».
Stern’s visit was to take place after the Indonesian judiciary sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday two military men accused of same-sex relations.
Stern, who is in Vietnam, is scheduled to travel to Philippine soil this Saturday, where he will remain until Dec. 6, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department. His trip to Indonesia was scheduled for December 7 and included meetings with the country’s authorities and representatives of civil society.
