One Muslim cleric is reaching out to waria, or men who dress up as women, trying to put them on the “straight” path.

In Notoyudan kampung, Ngampilan district, Yogyakarta, a cleric named Hamrolie Harun, who is described as having a long beard, holds regular meetings with waria, enabling them to share experiences and to learn more about Islam, in the hope that they will be moved to take the “straight path”.

Some of the waria at Hamrolie Harun’s service.

While some may discourage what he is doing Hamrolie says waria are people too and that he would feel inadequate in performing his job as a cleric if he allowed waria to be put down and insulted all the time. Hamrolie says that many other clerics support his efforts.