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International Journal of Indonesian Studies Autumn 2015
and the traditional dance of Rateb Sadati in Aceh , are the cultures related to homosexuality and regarded as an ETP .
The community of Bissu is a part of Indonesian ’ s pre-Islamic tradition . In the tribe of the Bugis , Bissu is a hermaphrodite man . He is regarded as a sacred person because of his power to dialogue with the goddess . Bissus are mediators between the goddess and the people on earth . To conduct their rituals , Bissu are wearing androgynous costume ( Boellstroff , 2005 , p . 38 ). They place Badi ’ ( a big knife ) and flowers as symbols of masculinity and femininity ( Graham , 2002 , p . 27 ). As a sacred person , Bissu usually is invited to a ceremony to bless some activities , for example the birth of the baby , the marriage , the rice harvest ceremony , and so forth .
Ancient history explained that because of their function as a mediator , Bissu are created neither man nor woman . When Graham conducted her research into Bissu , she interviewed Haji Bacco ’ about the birth of Bissu :
You ask how this world came to be . Well let me tell you . Up there in the heavens , the God decided they would bring life to this lonely planet . They therefore sent down one of their most inspiring deities , Batara Guru . But Batara Guru was not at organizing things . To do all of this , two Bissu were needed . So the Gods sent down two Bissu who flanked Batara Guru as he descended . And when they arrived , the Bissu set about making everything blossom ; they created language , culture , customs [ adat ], and all of things that a world needs if it is going to blossom . That ’ s how the world began ; you see . ( Graham , 2002 , p . 27 )
It is difficult to be a good Bissu . They have to able to memorize all mantras for several rituals , in addition to understanding the sacred language , studying the ancient sacred books , and some dances particularly for Bissu . Graham described Bissu as a man and Woman with divine and mortal characteristics ( Graham , 2002 , p . 27 ).
The condition suddenly changed completely when during the Guided Democracy period ( 1959-65 ) the old ideological divisions gave way to a left-right polarization , mirroring the Cold War struggle within which Indonesia politics became increasingly enmeshed . The army and the PKI ( Indonesian Communist Party ) emerged as the two main contending forces , with Sukarno attempting to prevent either from threatening his position . Sukarno supported his concept of Nasakom ( the unity of nationalism , Islam and communism ) ( Bourchier and Hadiz , 2003 , p . 5 ). The resistance against PKI culminated when on the night of 30 September 1965 when they kidnapped and killed six of the country ’ s most senior generals . Since then , the political and social construction of communism in Indonesia changed and turned that people who do not have a religion is a communist .
It is also happening in Bissu when they were marginalized and considered as an atheist group , particularly when the Operasi Tobat was launched by Kahar Muzakar in 1960s in South Sulawesi . As a consequence , Bissu were forced to convert to Islam , while those who did not obey the regulations , would have faced death ( Boellstroff , 2005 , p . 39 ). Currently , the Bissu can be still recognized in the role of the person who offers the blessings in a