Youth Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Relationships and Homosexual Contents on Social Media

Abstract

Living in a society that upholds religious teachings and traditional values, like Indonesia, is not easy for the youth when they must face controversies like same-sex relationships and homosexuality. This article reveals how the Indonesian youth coming from different faith traditions in Manado dan Kotamobagu, North Sulawesi, respond to same-sex relationships and homosexual content available on social media. It is based on survey data from 1,250 school students delivered online during Covid-19 in 2020. The cross-tabulation results show that most of them hold very negative attitudes toward same-sex relationships as something that has become common in society. This high negativity, however, is not found in their attitudes toward homosexual content on social media. Many of them agree not to avoid homosexual content found on social media. This discrepancy might be explained by the nature of secrecy and repression around this nonnormative sexual practice in the physical and digital world that differs.