In Banda Aceh, the only province in Indonesia that criminalizes same-sex intimacy, two gay university students were publicly flogged for engaging in consensual same-sex relations, an act condemned by Amnesty International as a severe human rights violation. The men were seized by locals, handed over to Sharia police, and received 77 and 82 lashes, respectively. Since Aceh’s incorporation of religious laws into its legal codes under its special autonomy status in 2001, many LGBTQ+ individuals have been severely impacted, with at least 135 people subjected to flogging under these laws in 2024 alone.