Ruslan Sangadji, Palu/Jakarta – Conservative Muslim groups have openly campaigned against transvestism and the use of condoms.
They rallied against on Friday a New Year's Eve contest for the most attractive transvestite in Pekanbaru, Riau and the installation of an automatic condom dispenser in Palu, Central Sulawesi.
More than 100 women from the Muslim Women's Network marched to the Pekanbaru legislative building to demand a meeting with the speaker to complain about the government-sponsored contest.
"The plan to hold a transvestite contest means that the Riau government supports transvestism, which will lead to free sex," Elvira Rosa, coordinator of the group, was quoted as saying by detik.com news portal.
The protesters told councillors the law did not recognize tranvestism and that the contest, to be held in a hotel in Pekanbaru, was forbidden under Islam. "State money will be wasted on this joke of exploiting transvestites," Elvira said.
Hundreds of kilometers to the east of Pekanbaru, Muslim students staged a protest on Friday against the installation of an automatic condom dispenser in Palu, Central Sulawesi. The demonstration was held at the city's Hasanuddin traffic circle by activists of the Palu branch of the Association of Muslim Students (HMI).
Muhammad Maswin, a 19-year-old protester, said condom machines encouraged promiscuity among teenagers. "This means the government approves of premarital sex. Our government has indeed become more secular," the law student at the Palu-based Tadulako University told The Jakarta Post.
The group also took the time to protest several economic policies of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration, particularly the recent fuel price increases.
The Palu branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said it was yet to take a stance on the condom issue, adding that it was awaiting instruction from the council's central board.
There are 25 units of automatic condom dispensers across the country, seven of which have been installed in Jakarta. The rest are in West Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Lampung, Riau, Papua and West Irian Jaya.
The automatic condom machines in Jakarta are located in the office of the National Coordinating Board of Family Planning (BKKBN) in East Jakarta, the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in East Jakarta, Indonesian Military Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta, and the Pasar Baru clinic in Central Jakarta.
The installation of condom dispensers was aimed at promoting the family planning program in the world's fourth most populous country, as well as preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
The program, however, has met strong opposition, particularly from conservative Muslim groups who equate promoting condom use with encouraging promiscuity.