Negotiating LGBT Rights and Development in Indonesia

Sawatdee krap/Selamat pagi!

Well, it has been a couple weeks since I arrived in Thailand, so perhaps this is a good time to introduce myself and my research this summer (generously supported by a Sigur Center Grant for Asian Field Research).

My name is Jamison Liang and I am currently in the middle of my MA in Anthropology & International Development at George Washington. My research focuses on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights movement in Indonesia—particularly in Aceh province—where I look at the intersection of international, national, and Islamic law and how they have been applied to issues of gender and sexuality. Aceh is coming to an important crossroads this year; the provincial legislature is debating how to formulate its Islamic criminal bylaw (qanun jinayat), which could potentially criminalize homosexuality. One of the central questions I am investigating this summer concerns the influence of international development and human rights organizations, ultimately asking how effective (or ineffective) a purely rights-based argument is in producing societal change on the ground.

As advocacy for human rights of LGBT communities has gained traction among international organizations, especially the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Indonesian NGOs have followed suit, adopting human rights-based rhetoric. Yet how do international actors and local NGOs implement these abstract strategies, especially in areas where they appear to contravene societal morals, religious beliefs, or local laws? What happens when government officials and local leaders explicitly reject queer communities? My research aims to answer this question by focusing on the intersection of LGBT rights advocacy and international development initiatives in Indonesia, noting how global LGBT rights policies are “translated” into culturally appropriate and effective messages by local activists.

So, why am I in Bangkok? As it turns out, I am doing this research while helping the United Nations Development Program Asia Pacific Regional Center (UNDP APRC) with their project “Being LGBT in Asia: A Participatory Review and Analysis of the Legal and Social Environment for LGBT Civil Society in Asia.” I am largely in charge of helping write Indonesia’s national report, though I am also assisting with the social media side of the project, posting about LGBT-related news across the region in bahasa Indonesia and English.

At the same time I am identifying people from various international development and human rights organizations to interview in Bangkok—the hub of the development field in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, these individuals should be able to talk about how rights-based advocacy is practiced at a regional and international level by tracing the flow of recommendations from civil society to policy dialogues at the UN. To be sure, I remain critical of how development agencies have historically interacted with “sexual/gender minorities” solely through the lens of HIV—a discourse which I argue has “medicalized” their identities by linking them to the HIV epidemic. While this issue has rightfully opened up space in development to talk about sexuality and gender more critically, it has also made it harder to see other social problems as legitimate.

Once my research wraps up in Bangkok at the end of July, I will head to Indonesia (Jakarta and Banda Aceh) for a spree of interviews with CSOs and international NGOs. To be sure, there will be much to learn in the coming months! In the meantime, if you’re interested in the Being LGBT in Asia project, check out:

- Crowdmap: http://beinglgbtinasia.crowdmap.com

- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lgbtinasia

- Instagram and Twitter: @beinglgbtinasia

- QQ-tencent: t.qq.com/beinglgbtinasia 

- Weibo: www.weibo.com/beinglgbtinasia

- Douban: www.douban.com/people/beinglgbtinasia

Jamison Liang
MA Candidate in Anthropology & International Development

Sigur Center 2013 Summer Grant for Asian Field Research

Site: Thailand and Indonesia

Running Start Young Women's Political Summit

July 12 – 14

Join 300 young women, ages 14 – 35, from around the country at Running Start’s Young Women’s Political Summit July 12th – 14th in Washington, DC. The Summit is for young women who want to run for public office, hone their leadership skills, and strengthen their connections in the political world. This is a bipartisan event open to girls and young women of all ideological backgrounds.

Details:

• Date and Location: July 12-14 at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
• Registration is $150 ($100 for Running Start Members) and covers program materials and most meals.
• On-campus accommodations for out-of-town participants are available at the Georgetown University Hotel. Click here for more information and to make reservations.
• Need-based financial aid and scholarship opportunities are available. Click here for more information and to apply.
• Although the program is open to all young women, chaperones will not be provided for minors.

ADB Washington, D.C. Internship Opportunity!

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) North American Representative Office (NARO) is seeking applicants to participate in a development communications internship at ADB's office in Washington, D.C. beginning September 2013.

With the help of ADB NARO staff, the prospective ADB intern will examine development communications best practices industry wide, including other IFIs, international organizations, private sector, government agencies, NGOs and civil society in an effort to create recommendations for ADB NARO to pursue in engaging stakeholders.

Deadline for Application: Friday, June 7, 2013 at 5:00 PM Manila Time (June 7, 5:00 AM Washington, D.C. Time)
Position Title: Intern NARO - 1319
Location: Washington D.C., US
Department: Strategy and Policy Department
Division: North American Representative Office
Internship Topic: Development Communications

For more information and to apply, please visit: ADB Recruitment Center 

Job Opportunity! Program Assistant, Global Gender Program, Elliott School of International Affairs

The Global Gender Program requires an assistant to help manage and implement all aspects of the Global Gender Program’s exciting and evolving activities. Duties include organizing conferences, panel discussions, and events; writing for and maintaining GGP’s blog, Twitter, and Facebook accounts; overseeing long-term projects; scheduling; administrative support; and other duties as assigned.

Go to job announcement 

Total Hours Per Week: 20
Recruitment Salary Range: $15.66 - $15.81
Partial Tuition Remission

Minimum Qualifications:
High school diploma plus 1 to 3 years of relevant experience. Requirements may be substituted with an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working in an office or academic setting. Excellent organizational skills and ability to multitask, prioritize, and meet deadlines with little supervision.
• Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills with a high degree of professionalism.
• Demonstrated interest in global women’s and gender issues.
• Basic knowledge and understanding of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Word Press).
• Proficient using the latest versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and mail merges; email and web searches.
• Willingness to occasionally work irregular hours (some evenings or a weekend).

Job Duties:

• Plan, organize, coordinate, promote, manage, and publicize events and meetings.
• Maintain and update social media.
• Keep track of finances including reimbursement requests, invoicing, and honoraria.
• Assist in coordinating, writing, and editing publications including annual reports, brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, and other materials.
• Collaborate with technology staff to update content information on website.
• Other duties as assigned.

Learn More...

New Job Opening at University of Maryland, College Park: Associate Director, Maryland China Initiative

The University of Maryland is seeking an Associate Director for its Maryland China Initiative program located on its campus in College Park, Maryland. 

The Associate Director will serve as the Maryland China Initiative (MCI) deputy in all managerial, programming, logistical, and protocol matters related to MCI’s executive training programs. Reporting to the Director, he or she will have primary responsibility for working with China client organizations on all business development, contract, financial, scheduling, visa, programming, and logistical matters prior to their program start dates (after which the Programming Coordinator will lead on scheduling matters). The 12-hour separation of time zones requires that the Associate Director frequently communicate with Chinese clients, in Chinese, via e-mail or telephone, after regular EST working hours. The Associate Director travels to China three to four times each year to build and maintain client relations and to attend annual meetings of the Chinese Foreign Experts Administration, which is the gatekeeper agency for all Chinese training conducted abroad. The Associate Director advises the Director on strategic, business, and managerial issues on a daily basis. He or she serves as daily office manager of MCI and has direct supervisory responsibility for the MCI administrative assistant.

The deadline for the application is May 31, 2013. For additional information and to apply for this position, please go to: https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/18369.

Employer:                Maryland China Initiative, University of Maryland, College Park

Functional Title:            Associate Director

Position Number:          119068

Category Status:           33-Exempt Regular

Applicant Search Category:      Staff

University Authorized FTE:       1.0

Unit:     SVPAAP-OIA-Maryland China Initiative

ADB Washington, D.C. Internship Opportunity

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) North American Representative Office (NARO) is seeking applicants to participate in a development communications internship at ADB's office in Washington, D.C. beginning September 2013.

With the help of ADB NARO staff, the prospective ADB intern will examine development communications best practices industry wide, including other IFIs, international organizations, private sector, government agencies, NGOs and civil society in an effort to create recommendations for ADB NARO to pursue in engaging stakeholders.

Deadline for Application: June 7, 2013 at 5:00 PM Manila Time (June 7, 5:00 AM Washington, DC Time)

Position Title: Intern NARO - 1319

Location: Washington DC, US

Department: Strategy and Policy Department

Division: North American Representative Office

Internship Topic: Development Communications

For more information and to apply, please visit: ADB Recruitment Center  

Volunteer Opportunity: U.S. -India Energy Partnership Summit

The Energy and Resources Institute, North America (TERI-NA) will be hosting the upcoming U.S.-India Energy Partnership (www.terina.org/usindiasummit).  We are seeking several student volunteers to assist with the Summit.

Now in its fourth year, the U.S.-India Energy Partnership Summit brings together high-ranking government officials, business leaders and NGOs from the U.S. and India to discuss and debate the most important energy issues and opportunities of our time. The speakers and participants work to foster stronger bilateral cooperation in the areas of energy security, sustainable development and technological innovation. This year’s theme is Stimulating Technology, Trade and Development.  Confirmed speakers include Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, Minister of Human Resources Development Pallam Raju, Govt. of India, Former Vice President Al Gore and many CEOs, government officials and NGO leaders whose work focuses on energy concerns and opportunities shared by the U.S. and India.

Given the high profile nature of the event and the speakers with whom volunteers would be liasing, this presents a great opportunity for students to gain valuable exposure to the  issues that will dominate the energy and environmental dialogues between the U.S. and Indian government officials and businesses going forward.


The Summit begins at 3:00 pm on May 13 with the CEO Roundtable with keynote address by Mr. Sam Pitroda, Chairman of India’s National Innovation Council & Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations. Special guests to the Roundtable include the State Department’s Ambassador Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, and Ambassador Carlos Pascual, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs. At the Roundtable, business leaders from the U.S. and India meet in an exclusive discussion session where they will explore the topics:

• Financing for clean technology

• Competitive energy markets

• Energy efficiency and growth

• Energy access and the private sector

On the May 14, the Summit runs from 9:40 am – 5:45 pm and counts among its speakers not 

• Pallam Raju, Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India

• Daniel Poneman, Deputy Secretary of Energy

• Nirupama Rao, Ambassador of India to the U.S.

• John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology

• David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, DoEGeoffrey Pyatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State

• Jeff Seabright, Vice President, Environment and Water Resources, The Coca-Cola Company

• Terry F Yosie, President & CEO, World Environment Center

• Charles K Ebinger, Director – Foreign Policy, Energy Security Initiative, Brookings Institute

• Deepak Amitabh, Chairman & Managing Director, PTC India Limited

• Manjeev Singh Puri, Deputy Permanent Representative Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations

Volunteers will need to be available the full days of May 12 – 14 as well as the early evening on 

• Registering and facilitating speakers and delegates

• Floor management

• Rapporteuring the sessions (summarizing and synthesizing the panel sessions and discussions in 300-500 words the day of the Summit)

During evening of May 13, the Eve of Hope takes place at 6:00 pm with keynote addresses by Al Gore and Farooq Abdullah, India’s Minister of New and Renewable Energy previously mentioned above:

Volunteer Responsibilities

Volunteers will need to be available the full days of May 12 – 14 as well as the early evening on May 13. They will be responsible for assisting with:

• Registering and facilitating speakers and delegates
• Floor management
• Rapporteuring the sessions (summarizing and synthesizing the panel sessions and discussions in 300-500 words the day of the Summit)

Interested students should send a brief note of interest and their current resume to Taylor GregoireWright at taylor.wright@terina.org. As rapporteurs of the sessions, volunteers must possess strong analytical and writing skills and the ability to work under a tight deadline. There are limited volunteer slots, so we encourage you to act soon. For volunteers in previous years the Summit has been an exciting, high-paced experience where they gain exposure to high-level discussions about the most important energy issues of the day.