Mataram City Government Bans Cross-Dressing Parades and Football in House Dresses

The Mataram City Government has issued a firm appeal to residents ahead of the 81st anniversary of Indonesian independence. The public has been asked not to hold unconventional competitions or carnivals with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) overtones.

Assistant I of the Mataram Regional Secretariat, Lalu Martawang, stressed that competitions and carnivals ahead of Independence Day must remain within the corridors of moral ethics, norms of life and decency.

“There should be no events that show something in a position of non-normality,” Martawang said in an interview in his office on Friday (14/8/2026).

Martawang gave examples of competition or carnival activities that could spark controversy in the community, such as walking parades where men resemble women, or vice versa. He also cited football matches where male players wear female attributes such as house dresses.

According to him, such activities are feared to shape the mindset of the younger generation into believing that such deviations are normal.

“Let us just do normal things. Things that can provide education to our children. When they see that, they become educated, and patriotism and love for this country become embedded and preserved,” he asserted.

As is known, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has issued a fatwa prohibiting men from wearing women’s clothing, especially during Independence Day carnivals on 17 August.

“It is haram for men to appear in or wear clothing commonly worn by women. Likewise, it is haram for women to appear in or wear clothing commonly worn by men,” said Deputy Secretary of the MUI Fatwa Commission, KH Abdul Muiz Ali, as quoted from the MUI’s official website.

Muiz also highlighted the social impact of the phenomenon of cross-dressing in the modern era. According to Muiz, such actions are vulnerable to being exploited to insert a hidden LGBT agenda.

“In the current context, wearing clothing of the opposite sex tends to campaign for the practice of the LGBT movement, which is clearly forbidden by religion and contrary to social norms,” he said.