Rio and Rangga are a young male homosexual couple who met each other in Grinder and now live together in a condominium in Central Jakarta. Rio discovered he was into guys when he was very young . During his childhood Rio was physically and psychologically abused by his uncle, who lived in the same house. His mother found out he is gay when she got into his Facebook account and told all his family. She didn’t accept his choice and he told him that she would like to kill him if it was legal. He was 18 back then, and a few months later he got kicked out from his house by his uncle, at that time he touched rock bottom and even had suicidal thoughts. Rangga was born in the US and he lived in different places before arriving in Jakarta when he was around 10 years old. He is studying medicine. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dondu and Tee are two homosexual men who have been in a relationship for the last 8 years. They both work for NGOs focused on HIV prevention, advocacy and research. Dondu’s family stopped talking with him once they found out he was gay and he spent most of his young life with his aunt. He’s really worried about the current situation and he warned Tee many times to be really careful when he’s going out since “dress like that you can get harassed or killed”. Tee was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2010 and Dondu, who doesn’t have the virus, has helped him to take care of his health ever since. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dondu and Tee are two homosexual men who have been in a relationship for the last 8 years. They both work for NGOs focused on HIV prevention, advocacy and research. Dondu’s family stopped talking with him once they found out he was gay and he spent most of his young life with his aunt. He’s really worried about the current situation and he warned Tee many times to be really careful when he’s going out since “dress like that you can get harassed or killed”. Tee was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2010 and Dondu, who doesn’t have the virus, has helped him to take care of his health ever since. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Rio and Rangga are a young male homosexual couple who met each other in Grinder and now live together in a condominium in Central Jakarta. Rio discovered he was into guys when he was very young . During his childhood Rio was physically and psychologically abused by his uncle, who lived in the same house. His mother found out he is gay when she got into his Facebook account and told all his family. She didn’t accept his choice and he told him that she would like to kill him if it was legal. He was 18 back then, and a few months later he got kicked out from his house by his uncle, at that time he touched rock bottom and even had suicidal thoughts. Rangga was born in the US and he lived in different places before arriving in Jakarta when he was around 10 years old. He is studying medicine. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Rio and Rangga are a young male homosexual couple who met each other in Grinder and now live together in a condominium in Central Jakarta. Rio discovered he was into guys when he was very young . During his childhood Rio was physically and psychologically abused by his uncle, who lived in the same house. His mother found out he is gay when she got into his Facebook account and told all his family. She didn’t accept his choice and he told him that she would like to kill him if it was legal. He was 18 back then, and a few months later he got kicked out from his house by his uncle, at that time he touched rock bottom and even had suicidal thoughts. Rangga was born in the US and he lived in different places before arriving in Jakarta when he was around 10 years old. He is studying medicine. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dondu and Tee are two homosexual men who have been in a relationship for the last 8 years. They both work for NGOs focused on HIV prevention, advocacy and research. Dondu’s family stopped talking with him once they found out he was gay and he spent most of his young life with his aunt. He’s really worried about the current situation and he warned Tee many times to be really careful when he’s going out since “dress like that you can get harassed or killed”. Tee was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2010 and Dondu, who doesn’t have the virus, has helped him to take care of his health ever since. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Lilith is a young pansexual woman who lives and studies in Jakarta. Lilith says she prefers people call her with the pronouns ‘she’, ‘her’, ‘they’ or ‘them’, but prefers ‘they’. Lilith started thinking about their gender identity and sexuality at very young age while they were attending high school. They had previous relationships with cisgender men, a transgender man and cisgender women. They had sexual intercourse for the first time at 17 when their boyfriend raped them. Despite Lilith’s young age, they love talking about feminism and politics and volunteer in a local LGBT rights NGO. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Mei was born biologically as a woman, but she doesn’t like to use conventional labels to identify herself. Mei was born and raised in Jakarta from a tolerant Indo-chinese-buddhist family and doesn’t like when people use gender pronouns to address her. Mei considers herself a demisexual and needs to have a strong connection in order to feel attracted to someone. Before the relationship with her girlfriend Khun, Mei was married with a man and had children. Now divorced, Mei had her first relationship with a woman at the age of 33. When Mei started dating women she had to talked to her children about it to avoid misleading gossips. Mei said to the youngest: “Is she kind to me? What do you think about her because some other people will say she's not a nice person? They will say bad things about us. You know what you know, we are happy and she's my partner.” Mei works as photographer and model while Khun works in a garment company. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dondu and Tee are two homosexual men who have been in a relationship for the last 8 years. They both work for NGOs focused on HIV prevention, advocacy and research. Dondu’s family stopped talking with him once they found out he was gay and he spent most of his young life with his aunt. He’s really worried about the current situation and he warned Tee many times to be really careful when he’s going out since “dress like that you can get harassed or killed”. Tee was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2010 and Dondu, who doesn’t have the virus, has helped him to take care of his health ever since. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Lilith is a young pansexual woman who lives and studies in Jakarta. Lilith says she prefers people call her with the pronouns ‘she’, ‘her’, ‘they’ or ‘them’, but prefers ‘they’. Lilith started thinking about their gender identity and sexuality at very young age while they were attending high school. They had previous relationships with cisgender men, a transgender man and cisgender women. They had sexual intercourse for the first time at 17 when their boyfriend raped them. Despite Lilith’s young age, they love talking about feminism and politics and volunteer in a local LGBT rights NGO. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dondu and Tee are two homosexual men who have been in a relationship for the last 8 years. They both work for NGOs focused on HIV prevention, advocacy and research. Dondu’s family stopped talking with him once they found out he was gay and he spent most of his young life with his aunt. He’s really worried about the current situation and he warned Tee many times to be really careful when he’s going out since “dress like that you can get harassed or killed”. Tee was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2010 and Dondu, who doesn’t have the virus, has helped him to take care of his health ever since. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Mei was born biologically as a woman, but she doesn’t like to use conventional labels to identify herself. Mei was born and raised in Jakarta from a tolerant Indo-chinese-buddhist family and doesn’t like when people use gender pronouns to address her. Mei considers herself a demisexual and needs to have a strong connection in order to feel attracted to someone. Before the relationship with her girlfriend Khun, Mei was married with a man and had children. Now divorced, Mei had her first relationship with a woman at the age of 33. When Mei started dating women she had to talked to her children about it to avoid misleading gossips. Mei said to the youngest: “Is she kind to me? What do you think about her because some other people will say she's not a nice person? They will say bad things about us. You know what you know, we are happy and she's my partner.” Mei works as photographer and model while Khun works in a garment company. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Masboi and Bintang met through Tinder and they have been together for a year. Masboi is a transgender man and Bintang is a cisgender woman unsure if she identifies herself as bisexual or just lesbian. Masboi felt like a boy since his childhood but he wasn’t sure about transitioning until he was 30 years old. Bintang doesn’t remember when she started feeling attracted to tomboy looking girls and she was in denial until recently. She thinks that what they do is a sin according to their religion, but she is trying her best to be a better human being despite of what the religion believes. They were both raised in conservative muslim families. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Lilith is a young pansexual woman who lives and studies in Jakarta. Lilith says she prefers people call her with the pronouns ‘she’, ‘her’, ‘they’ or ‘them’, but prefers ‘they’. Lilith started thinking about their gender identity and sexuality at very young age while they were attending high school. They had previous relationships with cisgender men, a transgender man and cisgender women. They had sexual intercourse for the first time at 17 when their boyfriend raped them. Despite Lilith’s young age, they love talking about feminism and politics and volunteer in a local LGBT rights NGO. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Ezra is a young homosexual man who was born and raised in Jakarta. In 2017 was arrested in a raid in a sauna with other 141 men. He was then sentenced to 2 ½ years under the antipornography law with other 9 men. It was only after the raid that her mother knew he was gay, something he wasn’t ready to tell her. Since his release from prison, he has been struggling to find a job as his name and photo were all over the media. Ezra is now trying to keep a low profile and he’s doing his best to overcome this very difficult moment for him and his family. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Rio and Rangga are a young male homosexual couple who met each other in Grinder and now live together in a condominium in Central Jakarta. Rio discovered he was into guys when he was very young . During his childhood Rio was physically and psychologically abused by his uncle, who lived in the same house. His mother found out he is gay when she got into his Facebook account and told all his family. She didn’t accept his choice and he told him that she would like to kill him if it was legal. He was 18 back then, and a few months later he got kicked out from his house by his uncle, at that time he touched rock bottom and even had suicidal thoughts. Rangga was born in the US and he lived in different places before arriving in Jakarta when he was around 10 years old. He is studying medicine. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dondu and Tee are two homosexual men who have been in a relationship for the last 8 years. They both work for NGOs focused on HIV prevention, advocacy and research. Dondu’s family stopped talking with him once they found out he was gay and he spent most of his young life with his aunt. He’s really worried about the current situation and he warned Tee many times to be really careful when he’s going out since “dress like that you can get harassed or killed”. Tee was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2010 and Dondu, who doesn’t have the virus, has helped him to take care of his health ever since. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Mei and Khun were both born biologically as a woman, but they don’t like to use conventional labels to identify themselves. They meet in an event for queer people in Jakarta. Originally from West Borneo, Khun felt attracted to girls since she was a kid. Her family was quite accepting when she decided to come out to them and she considers herself quite lucky for that. Mei was born and raised in Jakarta from a tolerant Indo-chinese-buddhist family and doesn’t like when people use gender pronouns to address her. Mei considers herself a demisexual and needs to have a strong connection in order to feel attracted to someone. Before the relationship with Khun, Mei was married with a man and had children. Now divorced, Mei had her first relationship with a woman at the age of 33. When Mei started dating women she had to talked to her children about it to avoid misleading gossips. Mei said to the youngest: “Is she kind to me? What do you think about her because some other people will say she's not a nice person? They will say bad things about us. You know what you know, we are happy and she's my partner.” Mei works as photographer and model while Khun works in a garment company. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Ezra is a young homosexual man who was born and raised in Jakarta. In 2017 was arrested in a raid in a sauna with other 141 men. He was then sentenced to 2 ½ years under the antipornography law with other 9 men. It was only after the raid that her mother knew he was gay, something he wasn’t ready to tell her. Since his release from prison, he has been struggling to find a job as his name and photo were all over the media. Ezra is now trying to keep a low profile and he’s doing his best to overcome this very difficult moment for him and his family. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dana is 28 years old homosexual man who was born in Jakarta and raised in Bogor, a conservative city located 60 kilometers from Jakarta. He realised he was gay when he was just 13, but he hid his sexual identity until he started studying at the university where he found a more tolerant environment. He recently came out to his mother after years of struggling and she said: “I still hope that one day you might settle down with a woman, but even if it won't be, I still love you as my son”. Dana says he can’t explain how lightweight he felt at that time. He likes older men and he was in a couple of long term relationship. He thinks the only way for him to feel comfortable being who he is is to leave Indonesia. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Ezra is a young homosexual man who was born and raised in Jakarta. In 2017 was arrested in a raid in a sauna with other 141 men. He was then sentenced to 2 ½ years under the antipornography law with other 9 men. It was only after the raid that her mother knew he was gay, something he wasn’t ready to tell her. Since his release from prison, he has been struggling to find a job as his name and photo were all over the media. Ezra is now trying to keep a low profile and he’s doing his best to overcome this very difficult moment for him and his family. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom

Dana is 28 years old homosexual man who was born in Jakarta and raised in Bogor, a conservative city located 60 kilometers from Jakarta. He realised he was gay when he was just 13, but he hid his sexual identity until he started studying at the university where he found a more tolerant environment. He recently came out to his mother after years of struggling and she said: “I still hope that one day you might settle down with a woman, but even if it won't be, I still love you as my son”. Dana says he can’t explain how lightweight he felt at that time. He likes older men and he was in a couple of long term relationship. He thinks the only way for him to feel comfortable being who he is is to leave Indonesia. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom