A still from the CONQ web series, which has been now been removed from Youtube
UPDATE (Sept 13): CONQ creator Lucky Kuswandi has responded to this article and wished to clarify several points. You can read his comments at the end of the story.
In a country where homosexuality is generally a taboo subject and 89.3% of LGBT individuals have faced some form of violence or discrimination, CONQ was one of the very few sources for media about the Indonesian LGBT community that was empowering, educational and uplifting. Created by respected filmmaker Lucky Kuswandi, it consisted of a web series feature positive and nuanced portrayals of gay characters and a blog in which people could write about and discuss issues facing the LGBT community in Indonesia.
CONQ’s tagline was “The Voice of Indonesia’s Gay and Lesbian Community”. But now that voice has been silenced. Its website, Twitter and Instagram accounts have all been placed in private mode. Its YouTube channel has had all of its videos deleted.
What happened? Moral crusaders from the government, of course.
The charge against CONQ was led by lawmaker Kuswiyanto, a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and House Commission VIII. On Wednesday, he was quoted by Okezone as saying CONQ was a threat to the country’s morales and traditional values.
“First of all, we are quite concerned about it, because it could damage morality, especially Indonesia’s traditional Eastern values and the basis of our state, Pancasila. It is inappropriate to be shown in public, especially through online media,” Kuswiyanto said.
“It can be watched by people of all ages. And of course its lessons are not good, because they violate nature.”
Kuswiyanto then said he had requested that Minister of Communications and Information Rudiantara block CONQ’s videos and have the parties behind it “dealt with.”
“The Ministry of Communication should have it removed so that it can no longer be displayed in public, because it could damage morale, and now we are focusing vigorously on character development,” he said.
With all of CONQ’s videos gone and all of its social media channels closed as of this morning, it seems Kuswiyanto has gotten his wish. CONQ is gone.
While the CONQ web series did include what some might consider graphic depictions of gay sex (though nothing that violated Youtube’s own ban on pornography), it also featured positive portrayals of gay characters in loving, committed relationships. It also included honest information on sexual education and health that is of vital importance for young LGBT individuals to hear about.
We thought that Indonesia had perhaps progressed enough for something as important as CONQ to survive and flourish, at least online. We were wrong.
UPDATE (Sept 13): CONQ creator Lucky Kuswandi sent us the following message in regards to this story
A few things we need to clarify:
1. We have never been contacted by the Ministry or the House of Representatives to close down CONQ.
2. We are putting everything in private right now as a precaution and to ensure the safety of the filmmakers. We want to keep on going.
3. We are currently preparing the production of the next season of CONQ.
4. If you would like to watch CONQ Season 1, you can email us at blogconq@gmail.com
5. We are figuring out a way to have CONQ Season 1 still available to the public, in an alternative way.
6. We would appreciate if everyone stays calm and quiet until everything dies down. This is to ensure that we can keep working, producing, and fighting for love, compassion and tolerance.
Thank you for the love and support. We are doing fine and we appreciate your concern.
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