American gay couple to be deported after calling Bali ‘queer-friendly’
DENPASAR, INDONESIA: A gay American couple is being deported from Bali after viral tweets that called the Indonesian resort island “queer friendly”.
The firestorm started when Kristen Antoinette Gray tweeted over the weekend that she was enjoying “an elevated lifestyle at a much lower cost of living” after moving to the island from Los Angeles with her girlfriend. Praising the benefits of Bali, she said it was “queer friendly” and home to a “black in Bali community”.
She also promoted an e-book she was selling that told people how to bypass strict regulations barring foreigners from visiting during the coronavirus pandemic. Justice official Jamaruli Manihuruk said Gray and her partner would be sent back to the US as she was “suspected of having intentionally disseminated unsettling information” about Bali.
While same-sex relationships are not illegal in most of Indonesia, the country’s LGBT community has faced growing pressure in recent years and their rights are limited.
The country’s LGBT community accused her of being ignorant of their plight. For most Indonesians in Bali, “this is not a ‘queer friendly’ place,” one activist said. “Please know that the majority of us Indonesians are still deeply embedded in the closet because of the astounding homophobia we face on a daily basis.”
Gray, a graphic designer, arrived in Bali in January 2020 and wound up staying through the coronavirus pandemic. Her posts on Twitter, including comparisons between Bali and Los Angeles and links to buy her e-book, began going viral in Indonesia on Sunday.
“This island has been amazing because of our elevated lifestyle at much lower cost of living. I was paying $1,300 for my LA studio. Now I have a tree-house for $400,” one of Gray’s posts said.
“I am not guilty. I have not overstayed my (tourist) visa. I am not making money in Indonesian rupiah. I put out a statement about LGBT and I am deported because of LGBT,” Gray told reporters after the deportation was announced.