Ministry of Religious Affairs Prepares Educational Materials to Prevent Spread of 'LGBT Culture'

The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) has begun preparing educational materials to prevent the spread of ‘LGBT culture’ within the educational environment. The materials are designed as learning content to be implemented in educational units under the ministry’s guidance. This material development is a follow-up to Presidential Regulation Number 111 of 2025 concerning the General Policy on National Defence for 2025–2029. In this regulation, the spread of LGBTQ culture is categorised as a non-military threat. The drafting process is being carried out across work units within the Ministry of Religious Affairs, involving academics, professors, and experts to ensure the resulting material meets educational needs. Vice Minister of Religious Affairs Romo Muhammad Syafii explained that the material being prepared not only contains educational substance but also considers the method of its application in schools, including which subjects will contain the material and the target education levels. ‘We are creating educational material. Our target is students. We are compiling material oriented towards giving understanding to students. Even more specifically, we are also thinking about how to insert this material, in which subjects, whether in religious studies, PPKn, or others. We have also started thinking about which grade to begin with,’ the Vice Minister said in Jakarta on Tuesday. The Vice Minister stressed that the terminology used in the material follows the provisions of Presidential Regulation Number 111 of 2025, namely ‘penyebaran budaya LGBT’ (spread of LGBT culture). According to him, the use of this term aims to distinguish between individuals and the spread of ideologies or movements that are the focus of the policy. ‘The Presidential Regulation uses the term penyebaran budaya LGBT, not LGBT. Because if it is LGBT, it targets the personal, but when it is culture, it is a movement,’ he stated. He added that the material being designed will be compiled based on the values of Pancasila, the constitution, and religious teachings, with an approach tailored to each level of education. ‘When Indonesia, whose Article 29 paragraph (1) is based on Belief in the One and Only God, and we understand the first principle of Pancasila as the prima causa, that means it concerns the provisions of religious norms that live in Indonesia. We have asked all religious leaders, and not a single one has said that their religion supports, accepts, or legalises LGBT. Understanding LGBT as part of human rights in Indonesia could not previously be accepted,’ he said. According to the Vice Minister, the substance of the material is still being formulated. The involvement of academics and experts is intended to ensure the material produced is appropriate for the developmental level of students so that it can be applied effectively. Meanwhile, the Head of the Centre for Religious and Religious Education Policy Strategy, Ahmad Zainul Hamdi, said the material is being compiled as a ministry-level policy so it can be applied in an integrated manner across all educational institutions under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. He noted that each cross-religious education directorate will develop materials according to the characteristics of their respective educational institutions with the support of expert teams from universities. The Head of the Religious Moderation and Human Resources Development Agency, Muhammad Ali Ramdhani, added that the material development is still in its early stages. All education directorates have been asked to prepare draft materials which will later be discussed and refined together. In the initial phase, the development is focused on primary and secondary education levels, including madrasahs and pesantren, before being further developed as needed.