my religion said: adam or hawa / the western said: man or woman / so the southeast said: man or woman / the bugis said: man or woman or calalai or calabai / the bugis said, here is the fifth gender: bissu / finally, the bugis said: bissu is / neither man nor woman / neither human nor deity*
i said: i am neither black nor white / i am neither zero nor one / i am neither hard nor soft / i am neither strong nor weak / i am neither loud nor quiet / i am neither bitter nor sweet / i am neither rough nor gentle / i am neither logical nor emotional / i am neither man nor woman
and i said: i am beyond what words could describe / i am refusing to be defined by the binaries / i am living / i am unapologetic, unforgiving / i am resisting the westmade knowledge / i am resisting the hate and the death
bissu, speak to me / sixty years after the mass killings / people like you and i / continue to live
* In Bugis culture, bissu acts as a medium between the mortal and spirit realms. This role requires them to exist in the intersection of two identities: they are a woman/man, mortal/deity being.
Poet’s note:
Conservatism continues to rise in Indonesia. In effect, the queer community often faces gender-based violence, criminalization, invasion of privacy, hate crime, and so forth. The Indonesian government actively participates in this rise of conservatism. In early January 2026, the government implemented the newest revision of The Indonesian Criminal Code, which will most likely increase the cases of criminalization of the queer community through laws against premarital sex and cohabitation.
Conservatism also convinces many Indonesians that queerness is a form of “budaya kebarat-baratan” (Western culture) which shouldn’t exist in Indonesia. According to conservatives, queer Indonesians are “abnormal”, because queerness doesn’t align with Indonesia’s “budaya ketimuran” (Eastern culture). This belief is harmful in the way it denies the existence of queer Indonesians, who have always existed; long before the archipelago was named Indonesia, long before Western knowledge taught us about “the dangers of homosexuality”.
Through “anti-binaries”, I would like you—especially young adult queers in Indonesia—to remember that many of our ancestors were queer. Remembering our queer ancestors is very important in a country that historically erased their identity through state violence. I would also like to invite you to continuously learn about Indonesian history and unlearn Western knowledge. Let’s take this moment to remember the bissu(s) who were killed by the Indonesian Army during the Western-backed 1965 Indonesian genocide.
Conservatism continues to rise in Indonesia. In effect, the queer community often faces gender-based violence, criminalization, invasion of privacy, hate crime, and so forth. The Indonesian government actively participates in this rise of conservatism. In early January 2026, the government implemented the newest revision of The Indonesian Criminal Code, which will most likely increase the cases of criminalization of the queer community through laws against premarital sex and cohabitation.
Conservatism also convinces many Indonesians that queerness is a form of “budaya kebarat-baratan” (Western culture) which shouldn’t exist in Indonesia. According to conservatives, queer Indonesians are “abnormal”, because queerness doesn’t align with Indonesia’s “budaya ketimuran” (Eastern culture). This belief is harmful in the way it denies the existence of queer Indonesians, who have always existed; long before the archipelago was named Indonesia, long before Western knowledge taught us about “the dangers of homosexuality”.
Through “anti-binaries”, I would like you—especially young adult queers in Indonesia—to remember that many of our ancestors were queer. Remembering our queer ancestors is very important in a country that historically erased their identity through state violence. I would also like to invite you to continuously learn about Indonesian history and unlearn Western knowledge. Let’s take this moment to remember the bissu(s) who were killed by the Indonesian Army during the Western-backed 1965 Indonesian genocide.
Sora Anindya (they/them/dia) is a Banjarese-Javanese Mad/Autistic/crip/queer writer, poet, translator, and extraordinary machine. Everything they write is written from bed, either in pain or in between pains. Their works are published or forthcoming in Suara Kita, Common Bloom Zine, Corporeal Lit Mag, Apricus Literary, and beestung. Outside of creative writing, they do volunteer work for intersectional feminist collective Inntersecte and mental health advocacy collective Ranah Rekah.
You can find Sora here :
Instagram @sonetacinta