MarieDelta
Apr 5, 2010, 2:05 PM
Article by one of the participants of an ILGA(International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Intersex Association) Conferences and the issues they had with protestors and police.
As we are an international community I thought this would be fitting to post here.
We need to be aware that the issues we have arent just limited to our own countries.
Article here: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-happened-in-surabaya-should-never.html
I then browsed the contents of my conference kit, most specially the conference brochure. I checked the schedule of my presentation. I was one of the five speakers for the fourth plenary session: Transgender Rights in Asia, which was supposed to be on Sunday, the 28th of March. This ILGA Asia Regional Conference was such a significant one because this was the first time that transgender issues were discussed in a plenary. Asian transgender activists were so excited about this as our issues were being given this importance and attention. My supposed presentation was entitled “From Priestesses to Politicians: The Rise of the Transpinay”.
...The registration room was already almost full when I arrived. The atmosphere was still relaxed and full of smile. I saw more familiar faces and four more Filipino LGBT activists. The conference organizers led the security briefing. They told us that 1) the protestors already knew where we are; 2) that we have already received threats from several radical groups in Indonesia; 3) that there was a mass demonstration that happened that day in front of the Mercure Hotel, the original venue of the conference; 4) that we were no longer following the original programme, that they would just inform us of the programme and of the rooms where the sessions would be held as we would no longer hold the sessions in the function rooms; 5) we shouldn’t carry around us any paraphernalia related to the conference, they also advised us not to expose them even in our hotel rooms; and 6) the security strategy that was in place: intelligence, communication system, and evacuation plans...
...While we were in the middle of our lunch, one of the local organizers announced, “Please go now to your rooms, you can bring your food there. They are already here.” We then rushed to our hotel rooms with our lunch. While we were waiting for the elevator, we saw some of the protestors entering the hotel.
After finishing my lunch in my room, I went to Hender’s room. We then decided to go down to the first floor of the hotel where we could see what was happening in the lobby. There were also a few participants on the first floor, which included Ging Cristobal who is also from the Philippines. I tried to look down and see what was going on in the lobby. One of the protestors outside the hotel saw me. He gestured that he would beat me up by raising his clenched fist towards me. I immediately retreated...
Then someone knocked on the door. One of the Mongolian participants entered and told us to pack our things for we would prepare for our evacuation. First, we doubted it for the last instruction that was given to us was just to stay inside our rooms. The room’s phone rang and it was confirmed: We had to pack.
Hender and I went down to our floors to start packing. After I packed everything, I went to Hender’s room and asked her to go down with me to the first floor, just to know what was really happening at the lobby. There were Indonesian participants on the first floor. They told us to just go back to our rooms. While on our way up, we saw several suspicious looking Indonesian men climbing up the stairs. Hender whispered to me “Scary!”. With a come-hither look in their faces, the men said “Hi” to us. I didn’t mind them and hurriedly run up the stairs. Then I noticed that Hender was no longer behind me. I heard Hender talking to the guys: “Hello! Sorry we’re lost…”
I shouted, “Hender!” When Hender was already with me, she told me that the guys said “It’s okay” and one of them caressed her hair...
...There were new developments. Tesa said that they had gathered reports that in the next day more protestors would gather in the hotel and they might be armed. The original plan was scratched. We had to evacuate the hotel. They told us their strategy on how we were going to do this: They had already identified several safe houses and small hotels in Surabaya to which we would be housed until the time of our flights out of Surabaya; and we have to go out in small numbers.
People got confused. Several concerns were raised. “What about our security?!!” Room 309 was a nerve waiting to explode.
I was on the verge of crying. When Ging saw that, she said, “Just cry later.” I held back my tears. We both know that if anyone had started to cry in that room an avalanche of emotional breakdown would had been triggered...
...We knew that the Surabaya crisis wasn’t finished yet. When we were back in Manila, we found out that the office of the Gaya Nusantara, the local organizer, was sealed by the fundamentalists and the staff are now working at home. Moreover, the Ministry of Religious Affairs are now considering to file criminal charges against the local organizers. The crime: Blasphemy...
...What happened in Surabaya is one of those ominous signs that religious fundamentalism is on the rise. What happened in Surabaya is a victory that will surely inspire those people who are against our existence to strengthen their delusion that their delusions have more right to exist in this world than us. But what happened in Surabaya will also be a source of strength to those who are still finding the courage to stand up.
This is a reminder that our work is not yet done and how much work is still waiting for us. Wake up! This ordeal is telling us. Wake up and reclaim your freedom!
The actual article is quite long, but it is interesting reading as she has documented all the issues that happened.
As we are an international community I thought this would be fitting to post here.
We need to be aware that the issues we have arent just limited to our own countries.
Article here: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-happened-in-surabaya-should-never.html
I then browsed the contents of my conference kit, most specially the conference brochure. I checked the schedule of my presentation. I was one of the five speakers for the fourth plenary session: Transgender Rights in Asia, which was supposed to be on Sunday, the 28th of March. This ILGA Asia Regional Conference was such a significant one because this was the first time that transgender issues were discussed in a plenary. Asian transgender activists were so excited about this as our issues were being given this importance and attention. My supposed presentation was entitled “From Priestesses to Politicians: The Rise of the Transpinay”.
...The registration room was already almost full when I arrived. The atmosphere was still relaxed and full of smile. I saw more familiar faces and four more Filipino LGBT activists. The conference organizers led the security briefing. They told us that 1) the protestors already knew where we are; 2) that we have already received threats from several radical groups in Indonesia; 3) that there was a mass demonstration that happened that day in front of the Mercure Hotel, the original venue of the conference; 4) that we were no longer following the original programme, that they would just inform us of the programme and of the rooms where the sessions would be held as we would no longer hold the sessions in the function rooms; 5) we shouldn’t carry around us any paraphernalia related to the conference, they also advised us not to expose them even in our hotel rooms; and 6) the security strategy that was in place: intelligence, communication system, and evacuation plans...
...While we were in the middle of our lunch, one of the local organizers announced, “Please go now to your rooms, you can bring your food there. They are already here.” We then rushed to our hotel rooms with our lunch. While we were waiting for the elevator, we saw some of the protestors entering the hotel.
After finishing my lunch in my room, I went to Hender’s room. We then decided to go down to the first floor of the hotel where we could see what was happening in the lobby. There were also a few participants on the first floor, which included Ging Cristobal who is also from the Philippines. I tried to look down and see what was going on in the lobby. One of the protestors outside the hotel saw me. He gestured that he would beat me up by raising his clenched fist towards me. I immediately retreated...
Then someone knocked on the door. One of the Mongolian participants entered and told us to pack our things for we would prepare for our evacuation. First, we doubted it for the last instruction that was given to us was just to stay inside our rooms. The room’s phone rang and it was confirmed: We had to pack.
Hender and I went down to our floors to start packing. After I packed everything, I went to Hender’s room and asked her to go down with me to the first floor, just to know what was really happening at the lobby. There were Indonesian participants on the first floor. They told us to just go back to our rooms. While on our way up, we saw several suspicious looking Indonesian men climbing up the stairs. Hender whispered to me “Scary!”. With a come-hither look in their faces, the men said “Hi” to us. I didn’t mind them and hurriedly run up the stairs. Then I noticed that Hender was no longer behind me. I heard Hender talking to the guys: “Hello! Sorry we’re lost…”
I shouted, “Hender!” When Hender was already with me, she told me that the guys said “It’s okay” and one of them caressed her hair...
...There were new developments. Tesa said that they had gathered reports that in the next day more protestors would gather in the hotel and they might be armed. The original plan was scratched. We had to evacuate the hotel. They told us their strategy on how we were going to do this: They had already identified several safe houses and small hotels in Surabaya to which we would be housed until the time of our flights out of Surabaya; and we have to go out in small numbers.
People got confused. Several concerns were raised. “What about our security?!!” Room 309 was a nerve waiting to explode.
I was on the verge of crying. When Ging saw that, she said, “Just cry later.” I held back my tears. We both know that if anyone had started to cry in that room an avalanche of emotional breakdown would had been triggered...
...We knew that the Surabaya crisis wasn’t finished yet. When we were back in Manila, we found out that the office of the Gaya Nusantara, the local organizer, was sealed by the fundamentalists and the staff are now working at home. Moreover, the Ministry of Religious Affairs are now considering to file criminal charges against the local organizers. The crime: Blasphemy...
...What happened in Surabaya is one of those ominous signs that religious fundamentalism is on the rise. What happened in Surabaya is a victory that will surely inspire those people who are against our existence to strengthen their delusion that their delusions have more right to exist in this world than us. But what happened in Surabaya will also be a source of strength to those who are still finding the courage to stand up.
This is a reminder that our work is not yet done and how much work is still waiting for us. Wake up! This ordeal is telling us. Wake up and reclaim your freedom!
The actual article is quite long, but it is interesting reading as she has documented all the issues that happened.