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AFP Photo caption: Transsexuals take part in an anti-pornography demonstration in Denpasar. A male singer stripped down to his underpants in Bali Friday while protesting a proposed anti-pornography bill as other demonstrators performed erotic
A male singer stripped down to his underpants in Bali Friday while protesting a proposed anti-pornography bill as other demonstrators performed erotic dances.
The protest was timed to coincide with a visit to Bali by eight legislators from a parliamentary committee debating the bill, which has caused a flap in the world's most populous Muslim nation, the Detikcom news website said Friday.
"We were born naked. Why can't we be naked now?" singer Yong Sagita asked as he peeled off his clothes to the cheers of spectators.
"This is the right place to be naked. Anywhere else we will be arrested by police!" he said on a stage erected for the protest outside the governor's office in Bali's main town of Denpasar
Protestors clad in flesh-revealing clothes danced erotically and carried banners saying: "Be loyal to our ancestors and culture. Eliminate discrimination, have a free spirit" and: "We live in Bali on arts."
Bali, Indonesia's premier tourism destination, is predominantly Hindu, unlike the rest of the archipelago.
Critics from around the country say some provisions in the anti-pornography bill, which has yet to be passed by parliament, would curtail freedom of expression and violate women's rights.
Most Indonesian Muslims follow a tolerant interpretation of the faith.
The bill proposes that anyone guilty of organizing a public display of erotic dancing be liable to a maximum 10 years in prison or a fine of one billion rupiah (108,000 dollars).
Performing dances deemed erotic would be punishable by five years' prison or a 250 million rupiah fine, as would a couple caught kissing on the mouth in public.
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