What Happened in Surabaya, Never Stayed in Surabaya

The Activist
By Sass Rogando Sasot

Thursday, 25 March 

Singapore to Surabaya 

Together with JJ, my fellow communication officer in Asia of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Intersex Association (ILGA), I was in a hotel in Singapore when I read the news that the Indonesian Police in Surabaya ordered the cancellation of the 4th ILGA Asia Regional Conference. JJ then asked me to check my ILGA mail for any advisory. There was none. So we then proceeded to go to the airport. 

While waiting for our flight to Surabaya, I took advantage of the free internet of the Changi Airport to check for updates about the conference. Aernout, my boyfriend, was online at that time. He expressed his concern and asked me whether I would still go to Surabaya. I told him, yes as we didn’t receive any advisory from ILGA not to go.  

Aernout is very supportive of what I do, so even though he would rather asked me not to go he just said:  “I know this is part of your calling…just be careful and text me as soon as you landed in Surabaya.” He also advised me to get a local SIM card so he could easily contact me.  

At the internet kiosk, JJ and I met another participant, a guy from India; and while waiting for our boarding call, I saw Agniva, a trans activist, also from India.  We asked them whether they heard of the news. They said yes and “it was all over the news.”  
When we were already on the plane and were given the arrival/departure card by the flight attendants, I asked JJ what we should say our purpose of going to Indonesia was.  JJ told me to just say “convention” – human rights convention if specifically asked what kind – and “leisure”. And that was what we did. 

Surabaya 

There were people waiting for us at the airport. It wasn’t difficult to spot them as they were holding rainbow flags.  They informed us that the conference was not cancelled and we were moving it from the Mercure to the Oval Hotel, although the conference will be held “underground”. 

Upon arrival at the Oval Hotel, I saw familiar faces and gave them hugs. After all the exchange of sweetness, I immediately checked in, went to my room, and unpacked.  Then I went to register for the conference. The registration area was somewhere in the basement of the hotel. The atmosphere was jovial. There were even girls at the registration area who were flirting with me as I pick up my conference kit and shirt. Then came my first ordeal of the day: Activating an Indonesian SIM card.  

The receptionist told me where to buy the SIM card; she was even helpful enough to write on a piece of paper Bahasa phrases that I could show to the store so they would understand what I was looking for. The store was just at the back of the hotel. I got myself a SIMpati SIM card and two top-up vouchers. I inserted the SIM into my phone and started using it. But Indonesian SIM cards weren’t like those “plug-and-play” SIM cards I was used to. Indonesian SIM cards needed to be registered before you can use them. And I didn’t know this. I asked one of the local participants to help me sort it out. She was very helpful: She registered the SIM card and made sure that I could already call, receive calls, and send and receive text. I immediately called my boyfriend to inform him that I was safe and there was no sign of danger anywhere.  

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 brochure also has a section on how to get around Surabaya, which included LGBT-specific information. I smiled when I saw several transwomen-specific cruising spots under the “Meeting Place LGBT at Surabaya”. I feel happy to the single transwomen participants who fancy men – at least if they feel lonely and horny there are places to find an erotic/romantic companionship.  

This was one of those rare moments that I’d seen information like this. Let’s be honest, conferences aren’t just all about discussing serious stuff, they are also events where you can meet people. There have been a lot of relationships – erotic, romantic, or both – that bloomed in conferences. It’s very easy for lesbians (whether they are transwomen or not) or gay men to, you know, have a little something-something during these conferences. Moreover, cruising spots guides usually feature those relevant to mostly gay men. For transwomen who fancy men, there would usually be no information on where to find men who fancy them.  Perhaps people just assume that these men can be found in “gay” bars. Of course, transwomen of any culture know that this is very rarely the case.  (Well, of course, I also hope to find transmen-specific cruising spots in the future.)  

The brochure, and the fact that warias (a close equivalent of the term transwomen) in Indonesia can live openly, almost just like in the Philippines, gave me an impression that Surabaya and Indonesia in general is a relatively safe place. And I thought that the protests against the conference were just a minor hiccup and that the news about the threats might just be a media exaggeration. Hence, I felt safe and even went by myself to one of the famous malls in Surabaya. Nonetheless, I remained vigilant. 

When I returned to the hotel, I borrowed someone’s laptop to check my mail and update my Facebook status. I read an email sent by Hender, a friend of mine from the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP); she’s also the President of UP Babaylan, the first university-based LGBT organization. She is also one of the participants and a speaker in the youth panel. This youth plenary panel is another first in the ILGA Asia Regional Conference. Hender informed me that she was already at a train station in Jakarta, waiting for her train to Surabaya. 

We, the communications team in Asia of ILGA, sans for Douglas Sanders who hadn’t yet arrived, then had a meeting about how we were going to go about our presentation the following day, the “Enhancing Communication: The ILGA Communication Project in Asia”. I volunteered to do the powerpoint slides that would accompany our presentation. Since my laptop was still useless, I borrowed Agniva’s. But before making the powerpoint slides, I decided to take a nap as I was so tired.  While in my deep sleep, the phone in my room rang. It was JJ, informing me to go to the registration area for the “security meeting” of the conference. I immediately went down.  

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 the briefing was going on, I surveyed the room and looked for Hender – she wasn’t there. It made me so worried. I immediately asked one of the supposed co-panelists of Hender in the youth plenary. No, she hadn’t heard from Hender also. I then expressed my worry to other Filipinos in the room. After the security briefing, I told Agniva, the trans activist from India, about my concern. She then asked me what time did Hender email me from Jakarta. I said sometime in the morning. “Well, the train ride takes ten hours Sass,” said Agniva. That gave me a sigh of relief. But still I was nervous. I didn’t feel that safe, especially that during the open forum of the security briefing a seasoned Indonesian activist told us that there had been an incident of violence during the candle-lighting event in Yogyakarta in 2000, which also happened inside a hotel.  

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