Compared to Europe, the Dutch East Indies was something of a haven for gays men because of an unofficial policy of "do not ask and do not tell." The policy does was not the result of enlightened thinking, but a practical measure. Mobilize qualified candidates for economic expansion and the bureaucracy has long been a major problem. Indonesia Tropical had a terrible reputation of the disease and the danger that only the desperate , hopelessly idealistic or ambitious super wanted to experience.
the 18th century many newcomers were Shanghaied or removed. A century later large cash payments in gold florins were used to trap people like the french poet penniless and desperate Arthur Rimbaud to join the notorious colonial army. in Holland, convicted criminals were often given the choice to serve in the colony or a long prison sentence. The appallingly low standards, it was easy to ignore sexual bias, especially if you have been educated and skilled. As the Catholic Church, the authorities were also astute enough to post the most flamboyant types of positions to the most isolated as a precaution. Only with the tangles were discouraged politically or economically influential.
Men gays were attracted not only by comparison freedom but also the attraction of native exotic lovers. Local attitudes toward sexuality were ambivalent throughout Indonesia and that it would be wrong to say that homosexuals had equal status, they were generally tolerated and in some places like the priests of Bisu Bugis, status often reached . Blur gender is also visible in the male heroes of images of courtly dances where refined male types are often very feminine and women once played by men. In societies where young men and girls were strictly separate, homosexual encounters between young men was not uncommon and rarely censored. The Dutch East Indies was not an attractive option for men gays seeking the freedom to live without fear.
For Walter Spies, this freedom came to an abrupt end in 1939 when he was arrested by the colonial equivalent of the vice squad to corrupt the morals of a minor. For most of this event has been described as a witch hunt by a colonial regime wrong. The real story, though far more complex and raises many difficult questions that can not be ignored.
Perhaps the most surprising piece of news is that Walter had been warned several months before his arrest that he was under investigation. One must wonder if his choice to ignore their advice to mitigate his flamboyant behavior was the result of an inability to control his natural tendencies or self-illusory belief that he was so well connected to be untouchable.
the Spies arrest resulted in immediate swelling of support from around the world led by Margaret Mead and Jane Belo, wife of Canadian composer Colin McPhee, who was out of the closet during his extended stay in Bali and was also under investigation. Mead and Belo helped by many friends of Walter designed a defense that seems strange compared to today's standards.
Gregory Bateson, Mead's husband, explained that his study of Balinese character had proved that the idea of time, as we understood it in the west, was unknown to the Balinese. In fact, this means that any testimony they gave was unreliable. The lack of any sense of time also meant that it was impossible to establish alleged lover under-age age Spies. Another strange argument was that the Balinese men matured at an earlier age and western standards to define a minor does not apply. The defense even had the child's father to testify that the family loved Spies and that in their view there was no problem.
Despite reading a treatise written by Mead in the defense of Walter him a rare artistic guy who found his soulmate in Bali should be an exception to the rule stating, Spies was recognized guilty and sentenced. Fortunately, part of his circle had enough sense and influence to understand that he will not come down and instead made sure that his sentence was short and mostly he would not be deported. After 8 months in prison, he was released in December 1939 not much worse for wear.
Like many legendary heroes, it is difficult to discuss Spies outside a mytho-poetic context. His first biographer, Hans Rhodius, idealized him as an extraordinary artist, musician and man of the Renaissance. Rhodius told me in 1979 that he had traveled to Bali in 1938 as a young man but failed to meet him. He did, however, visit his house. Spies later became a model that ended with Rhodius out of the closet later in life. Ironically his massive book on Spies, written in German, makes no explicit reference to being gay. This was the result of a direct agreement with the family of Spies who allowed him access to his prolific correspondence he agreed to expunge all references to his sexuality. Today, Spies also graduated from gay icon and liberator. Always so many, including Adrian Vickers Australian academic has noted, it is wrong to ignore the moral dilemma. A comparable situation regarding sexual activity by Australian artist Donald Friend gay men with minors in Bali exposed in a recent TV also caused controversy. The art of the two men got up and once more, we learn that life and love is complex and often dark and scary. Regarding sexuality the human mind is full of shadows and secrets. What is allowed or forbidden often changes with time. The greatness of Spies is undeniable. It is also doubtful that he ever committed a malicious act. Let us accept it as a remarkable man, but imperfect.