A COUPLE who held a same-sex marriage celebration in Bali, which featured a man dressed in the garb of a Hindu priest, have caused a furore on the holiday island.

The mystery couple — an American and an Indonesian — whose identities are not publicly known, were married at a five-star Ubud resort recently.

But when photographs of the wedding — which showed what appeared to be a Hindu holy man in attendance, and two young women dressed in traditional Balinese attire — were circulated on Facebook, the couple reportedly faced threats amid a national outcry.

Indonesian law stipulates that marriage is between a male and female and Bali’s Hindu leaders, including the Bali Governor Made Pastika, have criticised the wedding.

The issue has now created public debate. Ordinary Balinese are up in arms and there are calls for an investigation to track down those involved.

Bali’s Police chief, Inspector General Sugeng Priyanto has also weighed into the debate, saying police are investigating whether any laws have been broken. The are specifically looking at a law surrounding desecration of religion, because Hindu rituals were allegedly used during the ceremony. He said police believe the couple had married in the US previously and had held a ceremony in Bali.

Mr Pastika said Hinduism forbids same sex marriage and that it had disgraced Bali and the Bali Wedding Association issued a strongly-worded statement, calling for action against those involved.

“We have issued an official statement urging the Government to follow up on the reports and process them according to the law. If the violators of the law were our members we would not hesitate to firmly warn or even fire them according to our internal regulations and hand it over to the authorities,” spokesman Yano Sumampow said.

In Indonesia, where marriage between couples of differing religion is also banned, many couples marry outside the law, meaning their union is not legal but is legitimate in the eyes of their families and friends.

The controversy in this case is not the marriage itself but the apparent involvement of the Hindu religion which is against gay marriage.

Bali Governor Made Pastika went so far as to describe it as “a disgrace for Bali”.

“It should not have happened. Should not. Where was it?” an angry Mr Pastika said this week.

“In the Hindu religion it is banned. Extremely banned. I want to know, where was it? We should give a reprimand. I think it’s a disgrace for Bali. It should not happen,” he said.

And the Grand Council of Customary Villages, an umbrella organisation for the 1488 customary Balinese villages across the island, called for a full inquiry into the wedding.

“We have established a team to track down the information. We need to identify who they are, what was actually done, where is it, who led the ceremony, who witnessed the ceremony and all other things,” the council’s chairman Jero Gede Suwena Putus Upadesha said.

“We emphasise that same sex marriage is not allowed in our religion. In our customary law it is also not allowed as it could cause the area to be cuntaka (or impure). If the wedding ceremony really happened a purification ceremony should be held in the village where the wedding was held.

“We have to find out what it actually is. Why was there a man wearing the white clothes of a Pemangku (Hindu Holy man)? Was the wedding according to Hindu religion? If it was only acting to feel like a Balinese ceremony it was also wrong. They should not do it,” Mr Upadesha said.

Police said investigations were still underway but it appeared the couple had flown to the US on Saturday after the ceremony, which was held at the Four Seasons hotel in Ubud.

Bali’s police chief, Inspector General Sugeng Priyanto said preliminary inquiries had shown that it was not an official or legal wedding but a celebration because the couple had already legally married in the US.

“Preliminary information that we received is that the two men, a US national and an Indonesian, have already married in the US. They came to Bali to hold a celebration,” Insp Gen Priyanto said.

He said police were now investigating whether laws about desecration of religion could be used.

“They said it was a Hindu ritual. We will question expert witnesses first to find out about the ritual according to the Hindu religion. If it (the ceremony) was deviate maybe we will use that article. Based on the information we receive there was a Hindu ritual held during celebration. There was also offerings. For sure if we find that there are violations of the law the police will take action,” he said.