TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR), Bambang Soesatyo stated that he is ready to stake his position if the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or LGBT behaviors become legal in Indonesia. To prevent it, Bambang said that the DPR is currently discussing the LGBT Law in the Criminal Code (KUHP) revision.

"The passion is for extending the law, not to legalize it," he said when contacted by Tempo on Monday, January 22.

The working committee of the Criminal Code revision in the House proposes that same-sex sexual intercourse can be imprisoned. Previously, crimes for the same-sex relationship had not been fully regulated in the old Criminal Code.

The Criminal Code regulates a five years criminal law only for adults who have the same-sex relationship with children under 18 years. In the revision, the two parties namely PPP and PKS proposed criminal law become nine years in prison.

Besides, the same imprisonment also applies to homosexuals aged over 18 if the relationship is violent, publicly violating decency, publicized, and contains elements of pornography.

Bambang said he also got advice from the Muslim scholar, Ahmad Syafii Maarif who is familiarly called Buya Syafii. In his meeting with Buya Syafii, Bambang Soesatyo asked that the DPR not legalize LGBT as opposed to the values of Pancasila. "I am ready to step down if LGBT is legal," said Bambang.

M YUSUF MANURUNG