'We live here': fears tourist tweets on gay liftyle may backfire on Bali's LGBT muny | Bali | The Guardian

Contents:

• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS BALI
• IS SAFE FOR GAY UPL TO TRAVEL TO BALI?
• GAY BALI
• THE BEST BALI GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS BALI
• 'WE LIVE HERE': FEARS TOURIST TWEETS ON GAY LIFTYLE MAY BACKFIRE ON BALI'S LGBT MUNY
• IN BALI, LGBT BS TARGETED FOR TERG TO THE GAY MUNY AND ‘TATG TOURISM’
• GAY INDONIA
• BALI · GAY BEACH
• BT GAY BARS BALI
• INTERVIEW WH GAY COUPLE IS DELETED AFTER BACKLASH INDONIA

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS BALI

While homosexualy is accepted, any public display of romance, whether straight or gay, is owned upon.

Bali is now a gay-iendly place, and is unlikely that gays will enunter any problems while on holiday, pecially the touristy areas of the south. The bt place to base yourself is Semyak, wh s open gay scene and plenty of gay-owned and gay-iendly acmodatns, bars, and nightclubs.

For up-to-date rmatn on the bt plac to stay and Bali's gay scene check out the followg webs:;;;; and Lombok, a Mlim island, owns upon homosexualy and you will fd difficult to fd suable acmodatns and acceptg people.

IS SAFE FOR GAY UPL TO TRAVEL TO BALI?

It is one of the few plac the untry that is welg to the gay Indonia, Bali is always the go-to for gay is safer for the LGBTQ island is also one of the iendlit and most welg plac a gay uple uld on the island, there is nothg to hi om the lols. Save for the PDA, gay upl n actually do as they please when on the upl n be themselv whout fear of timidatn and and the Gay CommunyBali is a laid-back muny that is very acceptg of the LGBT tourists e and go to the on the island, physil ntact and affectn between iends are acceptable. But holdg hands, kissg, and other PDAs are acts owned matter of PDA is not jt limed to gay upl.

Whether you are gay or straight, PDA is somethg you do not do when that lols Bali are not vlent. However, one should note that Bali is more liberal pared to the other parts of the fact, Bali is what they nsir the gay oasis of is a gay scene.

And there are gay-iendly bars as no matter how open Bali is to the LGBTQ+ muny, one should always be should always behave appropriately. Fally, you n enjoy a night out town to any of their bars and listen to some live mic while you sip on your a night out Semyak, you n aga laze your day away on one of s Semyak gay-iendly? Semyak has a big gay muny pared to other parts of always ment that Semyak is the gay haven of the, you will fd villas, hotels, and a lot of om that, is also this part of the island where you n see drag shows and gay beach are gay-iendly.

GAY BALI

Semyak and Gay BarsThere are a lot of notable gay bars there are a few of them I n anythg else, you should know that the gay bars Semyak are jt one is what they ll the Jalan Camplung Tand of the LGBTQ+ crowd equent three popular they are:MixwellThis is the most famo of the three gay bars on the has an amazg drag show durg the if you want a great show and a party afterward, you should vis on a Friday or a Saturday. The are the nights when most of the gay crowd are out to JoeBali Joe is the ual gay, you n dance the night away. Asi om that, party plac and drag shows abound this part of the BeachThe bt beach Bali are mostly should also follow that the sunsets here are betiful sunsets, you n vis the Double Six Belig Beach is also the beach that gays equent.

Not wantg to let the risg ti of homophobia and transphobia brg them down further, some two dozen LGBTQIA+ Indonians who ri Bali went ahead and solemnly celebrated Pri Month, but a reful way so as not to attract any negative attentn towards themselv at the same time. Among the atten of the three-hour event were members of fellow NGOs om across Bali cludg Yayasan Gaya Dewata, Yayasan Gaya Nantara, QLC Bali, GSHR Udayana, Kwiir, Kabar Sej, Komunas Teman Baik, Queer Archive, Lokaha Yogyakarta, LBH Apik, and Persatuan Waria (Trans Women Unn). In the past few weeks alone, a married gay uple appearg a popular podst sparked renewed lls for crimalizatn of same-sex relatns Indonia, as well as givg rise to homophobic sentiments among the general public.

THE BEST BALI GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS BALI

Then, there was a harmls vio of gay men beg affectnate wh each other at a ffee shop Jakarta that went viral, which prompted their arrt and the temporary closure of the tablishment.

Last year, a gay uple Thailand was harassed onle by Indonian izens jt bee they put their weddg photos on Facebook. All members of the gay muny should be able to travel where they want and enjoy the experienc Indonia has to give, but ’s important to be aware of the suatn before travelg. As stands, same-sex sexual activy is still legal most provc although there is a strong movement to crimalize gay sex and is currently beg discsed ernment.

An anti-pornography law that also forbids sex parti and ‘viant sexual acts’ are often over-broadly terpreted and ed to target LGBT people; this is ed as the exce behd the growg number of police raids on meetg pots for the Indonian gay muny. Islamic anizatns have put a lot of prsure on the ernment to crack down on the gay populatn, and sce 2016 there has been a rise anti-LGBT rhetoric g om policians and public figur, as policians try to e moral issu to w vot.

'WE LIVE HERE': FEARS TOURIST TWEETS ON GAY LIFTYLE MAY BACKFIRE ON BALI'S LGBT MUNY

Tradnally Indonian society, there was a fair amount of tolerance towards gay people, provid they stayed discreet and quiet about their private liv.

IN BALI, LGBT BS TARGETED FOR TERG TO THE GAY MUNY AND ‘TATG TOURISM’

A lot of the gay scene happened unrground, and gay upl would rarely be publilly livg together or a relatnship.

GAY INDONIA

There have been creasg numbers of police raids and asslts on the gay muny, forcg the closure of gay bars and clubs (outsi of Bali). Over time, however, as the public discsn around homosexualy has bee more ght and there have been high-profile sndals volvg celebri and homosexual misnduct, the natnal broadstg missn troduced a policy banng programm om portrayg LGBT behavr as ‘normal.

BALI · GAY BEACH

Intertgly, transgenr inty is somethg that has tradnally been more accepted than gay, lbian and bisexual inty Indonia. Waria (men born wh the souls of women) lived openly daily life and are a varied group: cross-drsers, transsexuals, drag queens and effemate gay men.

However, while homosexualy might not technilly be illegal, but is a volatile suatn at the moment, one which foreigners will not necsarily be exempt om, so safety and nstant awarens will be ccial. As mentned above, sharia law erns the provce Aceh and the cy of Palembang South Sumatra, where homosexualy has been ma illegal.

Here LGBT travelers n fd a relatively flourishg gay scene, wh plenty of gay-iendly acmodatn, bars, and clubs, particularly Semyak the south of the island. The Gili Islands between Bali and Lombok are as ee as Bali, though; the three ty piec of paradise are somewhere gay travelers n feel fortable lettg their guard down a ltle, although they are far ls hedonistic than Bali.

BT GAY BARS BALI

However, ’s unlikely that gay travelers will experience any downright rejectn if they are booked at ternatnal, upsle hotels. What gay travelers won’t fd, however, is much (if anythg) the way of activi and fun aimed at the gay muny.

Certaly, if LGBT travelers are lookg for an out-and-proud gay party holiday, Indonia as a whole is not the place to go. If parti and some element of eedom are what gay travelers are lookg for Indonia, will have to be Bali.

In a untry, as silenced as Indonia, n be hard to work out how you might meet like-md lols who n tell you more about Indonia’s gay muny and the gay scene – or jt to show you a good time!

INTERVIEW WH GAY COUPLE IS DELETED AFTER BACKLASH INDONIA

In Bali’s gay bars ’s easy enough to get chattg to people, but most gay events other plac end up gettg shut down and phed unrground, so unls you’re the know, you are likely to miss the entirely. Gay men e workg apps like Grdr, Scff and Pla Romeo but the will be blocked unls you get a secure VPN.

However, polics isn’t always people, and gay travelers uld be surprised by the wele and tolerance they might receive; would be a generalizatn to assume everyone is a nservative Mlim.

Gays who are nsirg gog to somewhere Indonia for their next holiday should thk refully about what they want om a holiday. On the other hand, gay people should be, and n, travel eely around the untry whout any issu, provid they are not explic about their sexualy.