Dédé Oetomo has been actively involved in the pro democracy movement and the HIV response for over 20 years. He is the Founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation (www.gayanusantara.or.id), a community based organisation active in research and education in the areas of human rights, public awareness and politics as well as sexual health and well-being services around sexuality and gender diversity.
Dédé is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Surabaya, University of Airlangga, and Widya Mandala Catholic University in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Currently (2013–2016) he chairs the Governing Board of the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM; www.apcom.org) and is on the Advisory Board of the Islands of Southeast Asia Network on Male and Transgender Sexual Health (ISEAN).
He is an internationally recognised scholar, educator and activist in areas of HIV and AIDS, research, training and advocacy. He has served on the International Advisory Board of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (1991–2008), Asia-Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations (1994–1999), South and Southeast Asia Resource Center on Sexuality (2004–2009), and the Asia-Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (2007 to now). Dédé received the Felipa de Souza Award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in 1998 and the Utopia Award for Pioneering Gay Work in Asia in 2001.