Dede Oetomo

Dede Oetomo was born into a Chinese-Indonesian family in 1953 in Pasuruan, East Java. He describes his family as Westernized; his parents spoke Dutch, and Oetomo speaks Indonesian and Javanese. He came out to his parents as gay at the age of 20. He received a second grant in 1984 to work with the Modern Indonesia Project at Cornell. The project, established in the early 1950s by Professor George McTurnan Kahin and Professor John M. Echols, engages in Indonesian area studies. In 1987, Oetomo published a sociolinguistic study on the Chinese-Indonesian communities in Pasuruan. == Career ==

Dede Oetomo received a scholarship from the Social Science Research Council to assist with his dissertation studies during 1983 and 1984. He then moved into the study of sexuality, gender and the HIV/AIDS issues in Indonesia. Between 1984 and 2003, Oetomo lectured in political science at Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java. Oetomo has had a large impact on the LGBT movement in Indonesia. His work has helped to produce specifically Indonesian gay and lesbian identities in Indonesia, which he defines as "more or less as they are in the contemporary West". Lambda Indonesia was started by Oetomo in 1982, whilst he was still at Cornell, as a newsletter providing a forum where people could write letters to receive advice about gay issues. It was one of the first gay organisations in Asia. Lambda was discontinued in 1986 and Oetomo founded Gaya Nusantara. However, there was also increasing repression and Oetomo criticised funding groups such as the Ford Foundation, UNDP and USAID for not doing more to help LGBT rights in Indonesia. The post-Suharto era in Indonesia began in 1998 and Oetomo stood for election several times representing the People's Democratic Party (known as PRD). He also unsuccessfully applied to run the National Commission on Human Rights. == Gaya Nusantara ==

Gaya Nusantara is an LGBT rights organisation set up by Oetomo, which focuses upon human rights education, sexual health including HIV/AIDS awareness and fighting sexual discrimination. In 1998, the group pressured for LGBT rights alongside other organisations such as Arus Pelangi. ==References==