Indonesian citizens have been warned to desist from organizing gay parties or risk 15 years in prison.
Two men were arrested for the crime while eight others who took part in the event were arrested during a police raid.
According to an AP report, the gay suspects were arrested in a hotel located in Surabaya, one of Indonesia’s largest cities. Their prosecution will strictly adhere to the country’s strict anti-pornography law.
A local police chief known as Shinto Silitonga told the news agency that his officers busted 14 homosexuals who were watching gay porn and engaging in “deviant sexual acts.”
“This is the first time we enforce the law and arrest gay people in the city,” he said.
Indonesian police referred to the event as a “gay party,” adding in their social media post that motorbikes and cars owned by attendees of the illegal gathering were confiscated.
“May the law enforcement approach be one instrument to minimize similar actions,” Silitonga added.
Media reports say a judicial review is also being considered by the Constitutional Court to criminalize sex outside marriage and sex between people of the same gender in Indonesia.
The laws against gay relationships in Indonesia are lax in Aceh, where two homosexuals were arrested in March for having sex, but were punished with 100 lashes each.
According to a study from the Williams Institute, Anti-LGBT discrimination could cost the country a whooping £9 billion a year due to limitations faced by LGBT citizens when trying to access employment, healthcare and education.
