STUDENTS RALLY AGAINST ASIAN HOMOSEXUAL CONFERENCE IN SURABAYA

Surabaya, March 25 (ANTARA) - Hundreds of college students held a rally in front of Surabaya's City Council (DPRD) building here on Thursday against a homosexual conference planned to take place here next March 26-28.

The Thursday rally was participated in by students from the Surabaya branch of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI).
In their protest, the students carried several posters that among other things said "say no to homosexual conference in Surabaya", "say no to lesbians" and "Surabaya is not gay city".

A spokesman for the demonstrators, Agus Kusdiyanto, said Surabaya was a religion-oriented city where the majority of the people were Muslim. The local people, he said, highly cherished he eastern cultural values which do not tolerate homosexual activity. Therefore, he said, Surabaya must not be a host of the homosexual conference.

"We demand that local authorities ban and stop any homosexual-related activity in Surabaya. If necessary, the government must order the organizing committee to apologize publicly and guarantee that such an event will never be held in Surabaya," he said.

The rally drew a response from the vice chairman of City Council, Wisnu Sakti Buana, who said he too opposed the holding of the conference in Surabaya.

"We are not happy over Surabaya city being made a host of the conference. We urge the police not to give permission to the organizing committee to hold the event," he said.

But Wisnu also called on the students to conduct their rally peacefully and never try to move alone without coordinating with the police.