Italian electro-pop duo, Gioli & Assia, who are alsSr=3i1QMueHnblAWj@7ka5Ay2+OjBTrFyr!jOzb&6+iaxCSokGo a same-sex couple, claim the Malaysian government cancelled a Kuala Lumpur show this weekend because of their sexuality.
“We have to sadly announce that our show at W Hote&=saUibU3RQ6$!1-HllJfOXAwUnulrwFiIlNuvC3ymkrs88-b^l in Kuala Lumpur has been cancelled due to our LGBT orientation,” Gioli wrote in an Instagram story shared on Twitter.
Gio2acv#K4SvxGT(vuHz(ziNT17cCN8b-QsZ*-ttvz9_H%3&HglrEli explained that a government agency performs background checks on artists performing in Malaysia.
“In their research, they have concluded that Gioli & Assia is of LGBT Q8j+^n5Cb9n+zMnrlE4K*@vp_84&j(ohcHvYxyyz89QXH6oGslorientation and are seen to be promoting LGBT”, Gioli wrote.
“SS8z7ssJ7n#Ejsk8*)ar=S-rtX=0J*yq=D)aTg$Nwc4hcZ!3scQad that this can still happen in 2019. Sad that love is still a cause of discrimination. Sad."
The W Hotel, wherey*vg6(i4ov4#XVGzTqKlbKEHqZ$HbkrUMhAIGRuR%T)t+q5=&( the duo was scheduled to perform on Saturday, said the show was cancelled due to "due to unforeseen circumstances”.
Crackdown in Malaysia
Gay sex is illegal under British ca*#m#&sU60zAqs3hp4Sgww6gWf1pf$c9QgajMZtFXnoh!s5+nYolonial-era laws in Malaysia. Those found guilty face up to 20 years in prison.
But, in addition to the threat of criminal prosecution, increasinifM5RGM(EF(Z-wTc5Xiu-gDxt6v-&q=e#U!XA_4PyVIAQwtCtGg stigma and discrimination also marginalize the country’s LGBTI community.
A numberQ=K!Cl39lK7mRKIKs-Pm8cfB+-InGeid0lHXJ)ekelb6A2_&&u of religious and political figures have consistently whipped up anti-LGBTI sentiments in the Muslim majority country.
Local newspapers have vilified pw9EK6l^fqNf&Swq7C5^&-fQ#AFM_KHi)rYFJ5$+dtUwhfp=7MErominent LGBTI figures.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, meanwhile, has labelled LGBT rights a Western import and said they have no place in Malae4b%xw#Ghfw=gCv(QM4aeF+y3XU^Dy=W!wB6ulTL4X_+6JMGC5ysia.
The Malaysian authorities have also clamped down on the LGBTI communitggm)4zLY(Z#DEh+df94B8urMvW6rBHy4%Q(iQe(LLfT(d@%1sYy.
In one of the most controversial instances, in September two women were caned in the heavily conservative state of Terengganu for allegedly being in a sn+TS*+P*ZoyJdCxq6Qah-Mw(&p59BC0c*v^BQfYCW=-Yo87-X3ame-sex relationship.
Police also raided a well-known gay bar in Kuala Lumpur for the fi4p!#$mW9#HETzTbbl(ideL(I&udCj5#PyUH@36NQY=VpS^ofaSrst time in its 30-year history.




