What Happened in Surabaya, Never Stayed in Surabaya
| The Activist |
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| By Sass Rogando Sasot |
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Packed dinners were brought to Room 309.
Everyone was keeping his or her calm all throughout the ordeal. But the fear of the participants was so palpable. The corridors felt longer. Lights felt dimmer. And the air felt heavier.
Then it was announced that the fundamentalists were already going from floor to floor, making sure that we’re no longer holding any conference or that we are already leaving the hotel. It was clear. They want us out. Several times we had to keep quiet inside the room so that the fundamentalists who were walking around our floor wouldn’t hear us.
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Eva Lee (China) had just come back from her duty of going from room to room to inform the participants of the latest developments. I saw her trying to contain her tears. I asked her to sit beside me. I gave her a comforting hug.
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Ging entered Room 309 and announced that the Philippine consulate would fetch all the Filipino participants and house them to safety. It felt like I was lifted out of a well I had accidentally fallen into. But I felt sad about the people we were going to leave at the hotel. And I couldn’t help but feel guilty about just leaving them there. And what about those participants who came from a country that aren’t sympathetic at all of LGBT people? Would their consulates take care of them?
Ging then told Hender and I to proceed to her room. Hender and I said our goodbyes to the people in the room. Then I informed Aernout that the Philippine consulate was already going to fetch us.
Ging’s Room
Several police officers just left the room of Ging when Hender and I arrived. Ging, JJ, Agniva, and an Indonesian activist were in the room. The Indonesian activist told us that we would be safe soon. She also told us that she would be staying at the hotel until all the participants were gone. She also apologized for what was happening and told us that if ever we needed anything she would just be in her room. When she left, the Philippine consul called Ging. He told Ging that the head of the police assigned in securing the Oval Hotel told him that we were safe in the hotel: meaning, there was no need for the consulate to fetch us.
We all objected to the assessment of the police. It was clear to us. We were not safe, we didn’t feel safe, and we didn’t know whether we could ever trust the police. We just want to get out of the hotel as soon as possible. Ging also told the consul that the fundamentalists were already going from floor to floor. We didn’t feel secure at all. However, the consul seemed keener to believe the police than us.
We thought of another plan. Luckily, JJ knew someone from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). JJ told her contact of what was happening. To cut things short, the DFA called the consul and ordered him to fetch us by himself.
While JJ and Ging were busy arranging our exit from the hotel, I was busy arranging our return flights to Manila. Aernout was on the phone helping me. He checked the soonest available flights from Surabaya to Manila.
Ging was also arranging to get support from an international funding agency to pay for our flights. But it took a while for them to confirm. As a safety net, I asked Aernout to just pay and book for our flights; we would just pay him as soon as we got the fund. Aernout agreed. He then asked me to text him our passport details.
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The consul arrived in our hotel room. At last, we can now leave the hotel. There were several police officers that escorted us to the lobby of the hotel. We waited for a few minutes at the lobby while the driver of the consul get their car. We saw several fundamentalists that were still at the lobby. I saw one of them smiling a mocking triumphant smile as we walked out of the hotel.
When we arrived at the house of the consul, Ging got a call from the Urgent Action Fund for Women, telling her that they would be booking and pay for our return tickets. I then told Aernout that there was no need to buy our tickets anymore.
As soon as I lay down on the bed, I immediately fell asleep. My body just gave up from all the stress and tension and terror.
Saturday, 27 March
Since our flight back to Manila was in the late afternoon, we decided to buy souvenirs before going to the airport.
After buying our souvenirs, we got our stuff from the house of the consul and went straight to the hotel in a taxi. We were too early for our flight. JJ and Hender decided to buy some Indonesian delicacies. Hender told me that while they were at the store, someone asked her where they were from. When she said “from the Philippines”, the attendant told her, “Oh, the Conference?” We felt a bit scared.
When we were about to enter the airport, we saw Tesa, Myrza, and their little daughter arrived. Tesa told us that the lives of the local participants might be endanger as the fundamentalists got hold of the list of the name of all the participants.
Sunday, 28 March
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.
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“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” the cliché goes. But we know that this isn’t true with Surabaya for the terror, the pain, the tension we experienced in Surabaya are lingering on. Some of us are still trying to process what happened. Tears were shed and are still continue to be shed by others. Personally speaking, I can still feel the trauma and I’m afraid I am making my boyfriend unfairly experience the effects of this trauma by making mountains out of ant hills – hopefully, his patience and understanding will not run out sooner than the pace of my full recovery.
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 would 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!
My warmest gratitude:
To the local organizers for doing their best! Your bravery is admirable!
To the honorary Philippine consulate in Surabaya, thank you for fetching us from the hotel and for sheltering us.
And to Aernout Schram de Jong, my ever-supportive friend, affectionate lover, and reassuring warmth, thank you for staying with me all throughout this ordeal by calling me almost every 30-minutes. This ordeal made me realize how deeply in love I was with you and how deeply you cared for me…
Sass Rogando Sasot is a transpinay transgender rights activist. She is one the Communication Officers in Asia of ILGA; a columnist for Outrage Magazine, the Philippines first online LGBTZine, and one of founders of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP), the first transgender rights and support advocacy group in the Philippines.
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