The sudden intensity of Indonesia's anti-gay onslaught

A few short weeks in Indonesia has seen a former communications minister make a call for the public to kill any gay people they find and the leading psychiatric body describe transgenderism as a mental disorder. BBC Indonesian's Rebecca Henschke and Ging Ginanjar went to find out about the insecurity of life on the receiving end of such threats and hostility.
The swiftness and intensity of the attacks against Indonesia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has taken its members by surprise.
A hair salon run by transgenders in Jakarta is one place to get a sense of what it has been like. For Anggun, 23, who works there, it was enough of a struggle to accept who she really was. She is trying to stay safe by not attracting attention to herself.
"We don't know why smart people are suddenly saying things like 'homosexuality is a virus that can spread'. Even uneducated people know that's not true," she says.
Not every transgender in Indonesia has the chance to lead a legitimate life and career. As it is many are forced into sex work and already face violence.Picture of Vina and Anggun in a salon in Jakarta
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