Being Queer and Religious in Indonesia: Reconciling Sexuality and Religiosity in a Queer Camp

MUHAMAD FIKRI YUDIN, Dr. Evi Lina Sutrisno

2020 | Tesis | MAGISTER AGAMA DAN LINTAS BUDAYA

Tesis ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa terbentuknya subjek queer-religius di Youth Queer Faith and Sexuality Camp (selanjutnya disebut Queer Camp). Sejak Indonesia memasuki era Reformasi di tahun 1998, kebangkitan konservatisme agama sangat mempengaruhi diskursus seksualitas. Diskursus ini dibingkai dalam kerangka heteronormativitas yang sangat ketat, yang menyebabkan gay, lesbi, dan waria di Indonesia mengalami konflik identitas. Di tengah meningkatnya kebencian dan permusuhan terhadap individu dengan identitas seksual non-heteronormatif, Queer Camp menawarkan penafsiran alternatif yang ramah terhadap keragaman gender dan seksualitas. Tesis ini mengkaji bagaimana Queer Camp memfasilitasi terbentuknya subjek queer-religius serta bagaimana para peserta Queer Camp mengkonstruksi subjektivitasnya sebagai individu queer-religius. Data untuk tesis ini diperoleh melalui metode penelitian etnografis di Queer Camp, yang telah diselanggarakan di Mojokerto, Jawa Timur, Indonesia pada Oktober 2019. Dua gay, tiga lesbi, dan seorang waria yang beragama Islam dan Kristen juga diwawancarai selama Queer Camp berlangsung. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan teori subjektivitas, saya berpendapat bahwa peserta gay, lesbi, dan waria di Queer Camp mengkonstruksi subjektivitas mereka sebagai individu queer-religius dengan menjastifikasi penerimaan seksualitas mereka menggunakan interpretasi alternatif tentang keragaman gender dan seksualitas. Jastifikasi ini menunjukkan adanya relasi etik antara para peserta Queer Camp dengan other untuk mencapai tahap coming in.

This thesis addresses the construction of queer-religious subjects in a specific setting called the Youth Queer Faith and Sexuality Camp (the Queer Camp). Since the Reformation Era began in 1998, the rise of religious conservatism has significantly influenced the discourse of sexuality in Indonesia into a stricter norm of heteronormativity which leads gays, lesbis, and warias to experience identity conflict. Amidst the rising hostility against the people with non-heteronormative sexual identity, the Queer Camp offers alternative religious interpretations of gender and sexuality. This thesis thus examines the Queer Camp�s facilitation and ways that the participants develop interpretations to construct the queer-religious subjects. The data was gathered through an ethnographic fieldwork at a Queer Camp which was held in Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia in October 2019. During the period, two gays, three lesbis, and a waria, who were self-identified as Muslim and Christian adherents, were interviewed. Drawing from subjectivity theory, I argue that the gay, lesbi, and waria participants of the Queer Camp construct the queer-religious subjects by utilizing the alternative interpretations to justify acceptability of their sexuality. This justification illuminates an ethical relation with �other� to do progress toward �coming in.�

Kata Kunci : Queer-Religious Subjects, Identity Conflict, Coming In, Queer Camp