Deputy Speaker Ensures DPR Will Accommodate MUI's Aspirations on LGBT Criminal Bill

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is currently drafting an academic paper and a Bill on Criminalising Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) behaviour. Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Saan Mustopa has confirmed the DPR will be open to accommodating these aspirations. “As a form of public aspiration, in this case from the MUI, we will certainly look at the results of the draft proposed by the MUI,” Saan told reporters on Tuesday (30/6/2026). The NasDem Party deputy chairman said the MUI’s proposed bill would be submitted to the DPR as the legislative body. Once the proposal is received, Saan added, the DPR will review it. “It will certainly be submitted to the DPR, and the DPR will definitely review, study, and follow up on it,” Saan said. “It will be handled by the Legislation Body, or the leadership, or the expertise body, the DPR’s Expertise Body (BKD) will certainly review the proposal,” he continued. The regulation is being prepared by the MUI to be pushed into the National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas) at the DPR. MUI Deputy Chairman KH M Cholil Nafis stressed that this legal step was taken because moral appeals are deemed no longer effective in stemming the phenomenon of sexual deviancy in Indonesia. He said the MUI is declaring war on LGBT behaviour and campaigns. “For the sake of our love for true humanity, we invite them to return to their nature. We have prepared the academic paper and the criminal bill, it is just up to the DPR to discuss and enact it,” said Kiai Cholil, as reported by detikHikmah on Sunday (28/6). Kiai Cholil highlighted the shifting behaviour of LGBT groups, which he considers increasingly brazen. If they once tended to hide out of shame, they now appear proud and dare to hold same-sex parties openly in public spaces. Ironically, members of the public who reprimand such actions are often labelled intolerant. “This is already misguided,” said the Head of the Cendekia Amanah Islamic Boarding School in Depok. Therefore, the MUI believes that appeals are not enough. Binding legislation that can be strictly enforced is now necessary.