http://womensenews.org/story/lesbian-and-transgender/120820/indonesian-lbt-women-exposed-backlash
In Indonesia they are fighting for women’s rights, but LGBT rights are not considered to be part of those. In fact if LGBT rights are mentioned it brings backlash from the fundamentalists and weakens the advocacy for women. This is problematic because there is no one to speak up for the LGBT persons. Some of the organizations are fighting just to be able to gather together and associate with one another like in the East/ West film. Since the provinces are now allowed to govern themselves, discriminatory laws are being pushed through government by religious extremists. According to the author punishments can range from being stoned to death, imprisonment, and caning. There are some international activist groups trying to give assistance, but the government denies any wrongdoing. This reminds me of the conversation in class when we were discussing groups coming together to fight a common fight, such as women’s rights, and once they have made ground moving onto other issues such as LGBT. In this article I feel like the author is stressing the need to combine the two fights, as LGBT people are exposed to strict laws and punishments, and she is calling out CEDAW for their reluctance to speak about these issues.