THE prominent leader of a 30 million-strong Muslim group has called for a boycott of global coffee brand Starbucks because of its support for gay marriage.
Anwar Abbas of Muhammadiyah, the second-largest Islamic group in Indonesia, says the brand’s pro-gay stance is ruining southeast Asia’s “religious and cultured” core.
“If Starbucks only does business, then fine. But don’t bring ideology here,” Abbas told Reuters by phone on Saturday.
With the exception of the ultraconservative Aceh region, homosexual is not a crime in Indonesia.
However police raids on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in recent times have spiked across the country, sparking international condemnation.
In May, two men became the first in modern Indonesian history to be punished by the state for their homosexuality, receiving 85 lashes of a rattan cane each. [news.com.au] Read more
