Global concern about human rights violations against sexual and gender minorities, often referred to by the acronym LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender), has expanded to include concern about connections between human rights, social exclusion, and economic development. This study analyzes the treatment of LGBT people in Indonesia and shows how that treatment may be detrimental to the Indonesian economy. The report finds evidence from a wide range of research-based sources, including published academic studies of many datasets and studies by NGOs, that document the forms of exclusion that harm LGBT Indonesians’ well-being and that would reduce their ability to contribute to the Indonesian economy.

Context: Indonesians use many different terms to describe sexual orientations and gender identities, and the term LGBT is also commonly used in Indonesia to refer to sexual and gender minorities. Indonesian national laws are largely silent with respect to LGBT people, neither explicitly criminalizing them, nor intentionally protecting them. However, at the local level, there are provinces, cities, and regencies that explicitly criminalize LGBT people. Public opinion studies show that acceptance of LGBT people is very low and has changed little over the last decade, and that media coverage is generally negative.

Education: Education is an important source of “human capital” for individuals, enhancing the skills and knowledge of workers and expanding their productivity. Young LGBT Indonesians who seek to continue their education face barriers in accessing the educational system, such as the ability to use family resources, access to needed documents from their families, and access to identity cards that reflect their gender identity. In educational settings, harassment, bullying, and discrimination are common against those who violate gender norms, such as waria (an Indonesian term for some transgender women), effeminate boys and men, or masculine girls and women, and others who are perceived as LGBT. These barriers are likely to result in LGBT people accumulating less education and skills than they are capable of and reducing Indonesia’s human capital.