Jessica Harkins, Jakarta – Indonesia's embattled gay and lesbian film festival has been forced to cancel another screening, this time at the Kineforum, the Jakarta Arts Council's cinema, for security reasons a day after members of the Islamic Defenders Front launched demonstrations.

Organizers of two-week Q! Film Festival, which opened on Friday, however, insisted on Wednesday that the event would continue and called for support.

In a statement on its Web site, organizers say the festival will continue with the support of its sponsors, including the venues that have been targeted by FPI protesters.

"That this festival is part of our bid to the public to raise awareness about human rights, particularly from the perspective of gender and sexuality in the human identity... If there are parties who are not in line with the idea of this festival, we advise them to express their thoughts through discussion forums or to initiate a forum such as a festival... that allows the exchange of ideas without fear," the statement said.

More than 100 University Indonesia students, meanwhile, added their voices to those of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), demonstrating outside the GoetheHaus on Wednesday afternoon to demand the festival be scrapped. Jakarta Police were at the venue to ensure the safety of attendees, organizers said.

In the interests of safety, festival organizers have also canceled tonight's scheduled filming of Take Cong Out, a show where men compete to date each other in front of a live studio audience. The filming has been replaced with a screening of the film Pyuupiru, which has featured at a previous festival.

As of 1:20 p.m. the festival's official Twitter feed said scheduled events at Erasmus Huis and the French Cultural Center (CCF) on Jalan Salemba Raya in Central Jakarta would go ahead as planned. One film screening was abandoned on Tuesday.