International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 2

International Journal of Indonesian Studies Autumn 2015 the organization of the festival. The only way the festival was able to continue was by going “underground”15 Another event that indicated the violent rejection of homosexuality in Indonesia occurred in June 2005. Members of FPI forcibly entered the “Miss Waria Indonesia 2005” beauty pageant and harassed contestants. In November 2005, the Jakarta Biennale was forced to close because of objections to the display of “Pinkswing Park”, an exhibit that depicted semi-clad actors and actresses in a fictional Garden of Eden. Under the current circumstances, the international migration of Indonesian gays is understandable. Being open about their sexuality results in discrimination and violence being directed against Indonesian gays. Indonesian gays are particularly vulnerable to being discriminated against by society, religious leaders, and even by the state. Thus, in short, migration appears as a “natural way” to avoid being mistreated. This paper examines Indonesian gays’ migration abroad, in particular to Paris, France. The data on which the following discussion is based is derived from a study of Indonesian gays in Paris based on my on-going PhD research in Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) – Marseille, France. Semi structured interviews with twenty Indonesian gays aged between twenty-four and forty-two in Paris, France, were used to explore why they migrate to Paris, as well as a question about why they choose Paris as a city of destination. The interview was operationalized through a questionnaire given to initial respondents. In general, interviews were recruited from four locations: fast food restaurants, university parks, public parks, and their residents. Each person was interviewed for an average of one to two and a half hours. The names and other identifying details of the research informants have been changed to protect their confidentiality. The most difficult aspect of recruiting respondents was obtaining access to the potential participants and then to get to know them intimately because there is no statistical data. I was assisted by a gate keeper who has been living in Paris for more than two decades. He, at least, knew roughly of the existence of Indonesian gays in Paris. According to him, at present, there are approximately 450 Indonesian LGBTIQ with a wide range of social statuses in the city and immediate surrounds. In terms of respondents, this research focuses only on gays (biological males exclusively in male to male relationships). There are approximately 100 Indonesian gays in Paris, although it should be understood that the figures are approximations only based on surmise of anecdotal evidence. Retrieved from http://social science.nl/2013/09/25/searching-security-migration-indonesian-gay/ on Tuesday, 17 December 2013 Page 15 19 Why in this study is “gay” used rather than the term “homosexual” in general? The word “homosexual” has a negative meaning. The term indicates a strong r

International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 2 | Page 19