Indonesian Mayor Arief R Wismansyah drew flak after delivering bizarre remarks at a pregnancy seminar in Tangerang, a major city in the country. He claimed that canned formula milk and instant noodles are making babies gay.
"To create Indonesian children that are healthy smart and competitive, the most important thing is, from the beginning, to provide them adequate nutrition, especially breastfeeding," Wismansyah said in an article on Indonesian news website Okezone, as reported by the Daily Mail. He added that as parents get busier, they greatly rely on canned milk and instant noodles.
"So, it's no wonder there are more LGBT," the mayor remarked. "Allah created the creatures of his right pair, Adam and Eve, not Adam and Asep."
According to The Telegraph, Wismansyah's controversial remarks came after another Indonesian politician, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, was under fire for commenting that the country's LGBT movement is potentially as dangerous as nuclear war. Ryacudu said that the LGBT community that has been pushing for greater equality is putting the country at risk.
"[The LGBT movement] is dangerous as we can't see who our foes are, but out of the blue everyone is brainwashed - now the (LGBT) community is demanding more freedom, it really is a threat," Ryacudu stated.
Arus Pelangi, an Indonesian local NGO, has reported that more than 89.3 percent of LGBT people have suffered psychological, physical, sexual, economic and cultural abuse. On the other hand, a report of the Pew Research Center stated that more than 93 percent of Indonesians are not okay with homosexuality.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, however, it has been considered as a mental disorder. Jakarta Post reported that the Indonesian Psychiatrists Association (PDSKJI), the leading psychiatric body in the country, recently classified homosexuality as a mental disorder.
"We really do care about them," said PDSKJI member Suzy Yusna Dewi. "What we are worried about is, if left untreated, such sexual tendencies could become a commonly accepted condition in society."
