Journal of Social Political Sciences 

JSPS 
Vol. 2, No. 3, August, 2021 

 
 

ISSN: 2715-7539 (Online) 

   
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FRAMEWORKING THE ISSUES OF LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL 
TRANSGENDER (LGBT) AT MAGDALENE.CO (KALIBATA 

CITY ARTICLE: BETWEEN MUTILATION AND 
“SANCTUARY”) 

 
Djudjur Luciana Radjagukguk, Munzi Aulia Rahmah 

Universitas Nasional 
djudjurluciana01@gmail.com, mnzaulia@gmail.com 

 
 

Abstract  ; The raid on an LGBT party in August 2020 and then in Kuningan, South 
Jakarta became the main spotlight amid the hustle and bustle of the Covid-19 
pandemic. The media coverage of the case was quite controversial. Because several 
media discriminate against LGBT people. However, Magdalene. co does not see 
LGBT people as oppressed and need to be heard. This paper analyzes how 
Magdalene framed LGBT issues in one of her articles entitled “Kalibata City: Between 
Mutilation and 'Sanctuary'” through Robert N Entman's framing analysis approach 
to explaining how alternative media portrays sensitive issues such as LGBT in their 
writings. By using Robert N. Entman's framing analysis with the Define Problems, 
Diagnose Causes, Make Moral Judgment, and Treatment Recommendation methods, 
this study is expected to identify and analyze the framing of LGBT issues in the 
article. The result of this research is that the alternative media Magdalene. co framed 
LGBT people as oppressed and received unfair treatment so they need to be heard. 
On the aspect of defining the problem, Magdalene. co explained that LGBT people 
get discriminated against by the community. Diagnosing causes explain the cause of 
the discriminatory attitude because LGBT people are troubling citizens, and not 
following the norms that apply in society. In the aspect of making a moral judgment, 
Magdalene. co emphasizes that LGBT is negatively stigmatized by society and the 
aspect of treatment recommendation emphasizes that this problem will always 
exist. 
 

Keywords: Framing, Issues, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender, and Articles. 

 

Submission : Feb, 11th 2021 
Revision : June 18th 2021 
Publication : August 28th 2021 

 

 

INTRODUCTION  

In August 2020 ago, there was a raid on a gay party in the Kuningan area, South 

Jakarta. This raid became the focus amid the hustle and bustle of the Covid-19 

pandemic which continued to soar and then became the main conversation of the 

media in Indonesia. Later, there were also criticisms of how the incident was 

mailto:djudjurluciana01@gmail.com
mailto:mnzaulia@gmail.com


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reported in the mass media. As mentioned by Tempo. co, the status in several media 

that was highlighted was the disclosure of the HIV status of the suspects at the party. 

Even though the disclosure of HIV status is not relevant to the news. 

This has been explained in Law Number 14 of 2008 concerning Public Information 

Disclosure that a person's medical history includes information that is excluded 

from the public. One of the media that highlighted this was Suara.com which 

reported with the title "One of 9 Suspects of a Gay Party at the South Jakarta 

Apartment is HIV Positive" and "The Story of a Suspect of a South Jakarta Gay Party 

Undergoing Rapid Test, Result is HIV Positive". Where the title can cloud the stigma 

of the disease in Indonesia. 

The issue of LGBT is one of the sensitive issues to be discussed in the media. The 

cause of the sensitivity of this LGBT issue to be raised is because LGBT is considered 

a taboo subject, against religion, threatens the moral future of the state, and various 

other stigmas that also make LGBT people an oppressed minority. According to 

Vience (Rumata, 2019) in the Journal of Media and Communications Diakom) 

entitled Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender in the Frame of Systematic Media 

Studies and Literature Communication, he explained that not only are they accepted 

by society in general, LGBT people also get discriminatory treatment in the 

workplace, the world of education, health services, culture based on heterosexuality, 

even under state protection, is still very minimal. So that this is the main concern of 

LGBT in fighting for human rights advocacy for every LGBT. 

(https://jurnaldiakom.kominfo.go.id/index.php/mediakom/article/view/64/25 ) 

The 2016 report, entitled “Violence against LGBT” by the Indonesian LGBT Forum, 

explains that the Indonesian media is in second place in terms of perpetrators of 

violence against LGBT people, after State Apparatus and Ormas. It even touched the 

figure of 22%. Then the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBHM) in 2018 also showed 

that LGBT is a minority that gets the most stigma, discrimination, and human rights 

violations. This also ultimately led to 98 of the media coverage of LGBT, and 25 of 

them were discriminatory reports as described in the 2017 LBHM report. 

In addition to the National Report on Indonesia – Living as LGBT in Asia, it is 

explained that the law in Indonesia does not support LGBT people. Several regional 

regulations (Perda) prohibit homosexuality as a crime because it is considered to 

deviate from the prevailing norms. Of course, in this case, the media also has a big 

role in shaping people's views and opinions on LGBT. The report also explains that 

mass media coverage in Indonesia regarding LGBT is quite varied. Ranging from 

supportive to hostile. 

In a thesis entitled " Literasi Media Dalam Komunitas Lesbian, Gay, Biseksual Dan 

Transgender/Transeksual " by Dominius Tomy W.(Waskito, 2012) from Atmajaya 

University, Yogjakarta, he explains that the mass media at this time has done a lot of 

harm to the LGBT community because the news that often appears seems to add to 

https://jurnaldiakom.kominfo.go.id/index.php/mediakom/article/view/64/25


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the stigma and discrimination that they previously received from the community. 

This is also due to the lack of media knowledge on gender issues, especially LGBT. 

However, this does not apply to Magdalene. co media, even though this alternative 

media did not report directly about the raid case, they wrote an article related to the 

case and viewed LGBT people as the people who received the most discrimination 

in the media. Magdalene. co is a place for people and parties who usually feel 

cornered. Both are based on religion, gender, skin color, and or sexual preference. 

Thus, this is by the vision and mission stated in their website 

(https://magdalene.co/about), that they are an online media that offer different 

perspectives and transcends gender and cultural boundaries. So, they want the 

minority group to be accepted in society with an understanding of the principle of 

difference. 

One of the articles that cover LGBT in Magdalene, co is an article entitled "Kalibata 

City: Between Mutilation and the 'Sanctuary'" by E.J. Bram which was published on 

20 September 2020. After the raid case carried out by the police against the LGBT 

group in Kuningan, South Jakarta. Magdalene. co presents the article with some case 

examples. However, the essence of the article explains how LGBT people get unfair 

and discriminated against by a group of people in a deaf housing complex who are 

LGBT couples. 

The author intends to analyze the text of the articles contained in the Magdalene. co 

media regarding what kind of framing the present. The research will explore how 

journalists or journalists view the article. The research is focused on using an 

analytical text analysis approach, namely framing with a model from Robert N. 

Entman which is quite often used by practitioners of Communication Science. 

Observing the framing of the article entitled "Kalibata City: Between Mutilation and 

'Sanctuary'" by analyzing how Magdalene. co media highlights select and publishes 

facts in article writing on the website to make it more meaningful, and more 

interesting, even though it discusses sensitive issues. 

 

METHOD 

In this study, using a qualitative approach as the opinion (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011) 

explains that qualitative research is research that uses a scientific background to 

interpret the phenomena that occur and is carried out by involving various existing 

methods. Meanwhile, according to Bungin (2007:3), a qualitative approach is a 

research process based on a methodology that investigates a social phenomenon 

and human problem. 

This study analyzes an article using Robert N. Entmant's framing analysis. Framing 

Entman  is a selection process from various aspects of reality so that certain parts of 

the event are more prominent than other aspects(Entman et al., 2009). Robert's 

analysis divides into four elements to get answers to problems, namely, define the 



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problem (defining the problem), diagnose the cause (estimate the problem or source 

of the problem, make a moral judgment (make moral decisions), and treatment 

recommendation (emphasize solution). 

In this section, we will carry out several data collection techniques to get answers to 

the subject matter that can be accurate and correct. Researchers conducted 

interviews and collected documentary evidence related to the article. The data 

collection techniques through interviews and documentation can be done to obtain 

the required data. However, this will not reduce the accuracy of the data. 

The key informant in this study is the Managing Editor and Co-Founder of 

Magdalene.com, Hera Diani. In this case, interviews are conducted to provide 

information about the problem and become a strong source to be used as research 

evidence. 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

To be able to dissect the framing of an article in the media, Robert Etnam divides it 

into four elements, as well as highlighting a certain aspect of reality. The protrusion 

is the process of making information more meaningful, more interesting, 

meaningful, or more memorable by the audience (Mulyana, 2002) In this article, the 

aspect that is highlighted lies in the 22nd paragraph which reads: “As part of a 

minority group with a label attached to society, I often find myself on the same side as 

people who are considered “deviant”, in the face of the stigma that intensified by the 

majority or ruling groups”. 

When viewed from the sentence, it describes how LGBT people feel when they 

receive discrimination in the form of negative stigma or are considered deviant by 

the community, and this is in line with what Hera said during the interview that 

Magdalene. co is indeed a place for minorities including LGBT to speak up. 

 Through Framing Robert N. Entman is used as an analytical knife because this 

theory explains how to dissect to find out the views of the media by dividing them 

into 4 elements with each understanding. By dividing each paragraph into four 

elements that have been described by Robert N. Entman, namely Define Problems, 

Diagnose Causes, Make Moral Judgment, and Treatment Recommendation.  

The details are as follows: 

1. Define Problem  

This element emphasizes how the event is understood by journalists. How the 

event is digested and understood by journalists so that it is developed into 

writing or work. As for this article, Magdalene. co explains the essence of the 

problem by presenting a case where there was an LGBT couple who received 

discrimination by the residents around the couple living. This discriminatory 

attitude is described by courting, cornering, and urging the couple to admit their 

sexual orientation. This shows the attitude of the residents' dislike of the LGBT 



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couple in their environment. Indirectly, this attitude illustrates the attitude of 

discrimination because it has discriminated against a group. While on the other 

hand, the LGBT couple is described as not doing anything that disturbs the 

residents of the complex. 

2. Diagnose Causes 

This element explains what the cause of the problem is, what can be and who did 

it to cause the problem. This element is important because to know how an event 

occurred, the first step is to know what and who caused the problem. As for in 

this article, the reason for this discrimination is because the LGBT couple is 

considered to be disturbing residents, not following religious norms, and many 

media are busy reporting on LGBT which makes them uncomfortable. So, the 

residents flocked to raid and corner them. 

In the article, this explanation is found in the 14th and 16th paragraphs. In the 

14th paragraph Magdalene. co mentions the causal factors, while the 16th 

paragraph Magdalene. co contains justifying and providing the main arguments 

for the problem. The researcher considers that Magdalene. co does not want to 

directly explain the factors that are the main causes of the problem but convey it 

implicitly through the cases that are told. 

 

3. Make Moral Judgment 

This element questions whether there are arguments that can strengthen the 

statement on the subject matter? Meanwhile, in this article, the argument that 

strengthens the main issue lies in paragraph 22 which implicitly explains how the 

LGBT people feel how they are considered a minority group who are considered 

deviant and receive negative stigma from the community. In addition, it was 

further explained that this LGBT couple finally chose to move to the Kalibata City 

Apartment, which they found peace after moving. Because of the high 

individualistic attitude that other residents of Kalibata City have. In addition, it 

was reiterated that other forms of discrimination will continue to occur. 

 

4. Treatment Recommendations 

This element is the last element used to judge what journalists want at the end of 

the article. What path did journalists choose, and did they provide a solution to 

the problem or not? Researchers assess Magdalene. co does not directly provide 

a solution to this problem. But in the end, Magdalene. co reminded LGBT people 

that out there this problem will always be present, discrimination and other 

negative stigmas that might happen anywhere and anytime, and what needs to 

be done is to ignore it. 

 

 



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CONCLUSION  

From this study, the researcher found that Magdalene. co views LGBT as a group that 

is discriminated against and oppressed, so it needs to be heard. This article 

consisting of 34 paragraphs has the four elements described by Robert A. Entman. 

In defining problems, Magdalene. co demonstrated discriminatory attitudes in the 

article by courting, cornering, and urging the couple to admit their sexual 

orientation. The second element, namely the diagnosis of the cause or the cause of 

the problem that LGBT people get discriminated against is because they are 

disturbing the local people, not according to religious norms, and many media are 

busy talking about the raids making them feel uncomfortable. So that this is the 

beginning of the attitude of discrimination against LGBT couples. 

In the third element, make moral judgments that can support this statement, it is 

explained that LGBT people are indeed a minority who often get negative stigma 

from the wider community. 

The fourth element, namely the Treatment Recommendation for this problem, is to 

remind LGBT people that discrimination will be found anywhere and anytime. So, 

what is needed is an attitude of not caring about it.  

 

REFERENCES 

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. sage. 
Entman, R. M., Matthes, J., & Pellicano, L. (2009). Nature, sources, and effects of news 

framing. In The handbook of journalism studies (pp. 195–210). Routledge. 
Mulyana, D. R. D. (2002). ANALISIS FRAMING Konstruksi, Ideologi, dan Politik Media. 

LKIS PELANGI AKSARA. 
Rumata, V. M. (2019). Lesbi, gay, biseksual, dan transgender dalam bingkai kajian 

media dan komunikasi: Sebuah kajian literatur sistematis. Diakom: Jurnal 
Media Dan Komunikasi, 2(2), 168–177. 

WASKITO, D. T. (2012). LITERASI MEDIA DALAM KOMUNITAS LESBIAN, GAY, 
BISEKSUAL DAN TRANSGENDER/TRANSEKSUAL (Studi Deskriptif Kualitatif 
Pemahaman Literasi Media dalam Organisasi Komunitas LGBT PLU Satu Hati 
Yogyakarta). UAJY.