Sheltered away from the society that marginalises them, these are the waria of .
Transexual and transgender people are often shunned in the largely conservative country, and many choose to move to a community on the island of Java.
Here they could, until last year, attend an Islamic boarding school for transgender learners, thought to be the only one in the world.
Now the waria — a term which combines the Indonesian words ‘wanita’ and ‘pria’, which mean woman and man — often gather in the building to pray, but the school shut after a public outcry last year.
Shintra Ratri, who founded the Pondok Pesantren Waria Al-Fatah religious school in 2008, before it was forced to close
The building acts as a haven for Indonesia’s waria community, who face increasing discrimination
Transexual and transgender people are often shunned in the largely conservative country, and many choose to move to a community on the island of Java
Nevertheless, defiant teachers continue to hold occasional classes for those of the 42 students who continue their learning.
A series of photographs taken in the community of Yogyakarta, where around 300 waria live, give a fascinating insight into the lives of the marginalised group.
Last year Shinta Ratri, a waria activist who founded the Pondok Pesantren Waria Al-Fatah religious school, told : ‘It was a place to pray together, to learn about Islam together.
The series of photographs taken in the community of Yogyakarta, where around 300 waria live, give a fascinating insight into the lives of the marginalised group
In the past 12 months, the community has come under fire.The Indonesian higher education minister led calls to ban LGBT groups from campuses because they were not ‘in accordance with the values and morals of Indonesia’
The building now serves as a community centre for the waria, who can be victims of ridicule, violence and poverty
‘Waria were uncomfortable praying in public mosques, so I thought it would be better for us to be together than sitting alone in our homes with our spiritual questions only in our hearts.’
The building now serves as a community centre for the waria, who can be victims of ridicule, violence and poverty.
A large proportion have no families or legal identities, and few can afford gender reassignment surgery, so often retain their male genitalia.
A large proportion have no families or legal identities, and face an increasing wave of discrimination across Indonesia
Around 300 members of the waria community live in Yogyakarta on the island of Java
In the past 12 months, right-wing politicians have called for homosexuality to be criminalised, but president Joko Widodo has called on authorities to defend LGBT people from violence
Many have silicon inserted straight beneath their skin in order to create their breasts, and only some have stable relationships with men.
In the past 12 months, the community has come under fire.The Indonesian higher education minister led calls to ban LGBT groups from campuses because they were not ‘in accordance with the values and morals of Indonesia’.
With the surge in public condemnation, Shinta found herself under attack and conservative politicians called for the LGBT society to be criminalised and advocated ‘cures’.
The school was closed last year after opposition from the Islamic Jihad Front, but classes continue to be held by defiant teachers
Shinta said: ‘We want to prove that Islam accepts transgenders, that Islam is a blessing for all mankind’
In October last year, after months of silence on the issue, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said homosexuality should not be criminalised and called on the police to defend LGBT people from violence
The building now serves as a community centre for the waria, who can be victims of ridicule, violence and poverty
Last year fundamentalist Indonesian group the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) called for the school to be closed.
Shinta told Human Rights Watch: ‘I told them about how Islam accommodates diversity: people with disabilities, waria, all kinds of people deserve Allah’s love.
‘I recited passages of the Qur’an, and explained how we teach waria how to face death as Muslims, how to pray as Muslims.I told them about how i thought about this was a boy when I was born, but my soul is that of a woman.’
Shinta Ratri, a waria activist who founded the Pondok Pesantren Waria Al-Fatah religious school, said: ‘It was a place to pray together, to learn about Islam together’
She said: ‘I told them about how Islam accommodates diversity: people with disabilities, waria, all kinds of people deserve Allah’s love’
After the school shut in February last year, Shinta told AFP: ‘We want to prove that Islam accepts transgenders, that Islam is a blessing for all mankind.’
But a leader from the Islamic Jihad Front said: ‘We can’t be tolerant towards something that is bad.’
In October last year, after months of silence on the issue, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said homosexuality should not be criminalised and called on the police to defend LGBT people from violence.
But a new