Lawmaker Backs Prabowo's LGBTQ Non-Military Threat Classification

1 week ago 24

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesia's Gerindra Party spokesperson Bahtra Banong said he supports President Prabowo Subianto's decision to classify the spread of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) culture as a form of non-military threat under Presidential Regulation No. 111 of 2025 on the State's General Defense Policy for 2025-2029.

"I think it is good, and indeed in our country, we do not recognize such matters," Bahtra said at the People's Consultative Assembly of Indonesia building in Jakarta on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

Bahtra, who also serves as Deputy Chairperson of the House of Representatives of Indonesia Commission II, said Prabowo's stance reflected the government's efforts to anticipate what he described as the spread of LGBTQ culture. He called on the public to support the central government's policy.

"We must support what the President has stated, that it is a threat to our defense. So, we support the central government," Bahtra said.

Prabowo signed Presidential Regulation No. 111 of 2025 in Jakarta on October 24, 2025. The classification of LGBTQ culture as a non-military threat is included in the regulation's annex under the section titled "Factors Affecting the General Defense Policy of the State," specifically in the Threat Analysis section.

The regulation divides national defense threats into three categories: military threats, non-military threats, and hybrid threats.

"The non-military threat is in the form of unarmed activities or efforts that endanger and threaten state sovereignty, the integrity of the state's territory, and the safety of the entire nation," the annex states.

The policy outlines that threats to national defense may emerge across various dimensions, including ideology, politics, economy, socio-cultural issues, technology, public safety, and legislation. The annex then lists various examples of non-military threats.

These include the spread of prohibited ideologies, the weakening of nationalism and the spread of atheism, separatism, terrorism, radicalism, information warfare, economic crises, online gambling, illegal online lending, human trafficking, piracy, natural resource theft, and the circulation and abuse of illegal drugs.

The regulation also lists: "the spread of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) culture" as one of the categorized non-military threats.

Presidential Regulation No. 111 of 2025 was issued as an implementation of Article 13 paragraph (2) of Law No. 3 of 2002 on State Defense.

"The State's General Defense Policy for 2025-2029 serves as a guideline for the management of the National Defense System," Article 2 paragraph (1) of the regulation states.

The following paragraph stipulates that the policy serves as a reference for the planning, implementation, and supervision of the national defense system.

Ervana Trikarinaputri contributed to this article.

Read: How Prabowo Designates Spread of LGBTQ Culture as 'Nonmilitary Threat'

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