Although waria, male to female transgender performers and prostitutes have long played their role in Indonesian culture, the Indonesian gay men and lesbian women homosexual identity has only been recently identified, mainly through identification with their western counterparts through film, television, and media.
Meskipun waria, laki-laki yang berpenampilan seperti wanita, dan pelacur, telah lama memainkan peran mereka dalam budaya Indonesia, identitas homoseksualitas laki-laki gay dan perempuan lesbian di Indonesia hanya diidentifikasi baru-baru ini, terutama melalui identifikasi dengan rekan-rekan gay dan lesbian Barat mereka, melalui film, televisi, dan media.