British pop-rock band Coldplay will perform its scheduled concert in Jakarta on Wednesday night despite calls by anti-LGBTQ demonstrators in the country for the show to be canceled, a minister has said.
British pop-rock band Coldplay will perform its scheduled concert in Jakarta on Wednesday night despite calls by anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) demonstrators in the country for the show to be canceled, a minister has said.
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno underlined on Tuesday that the band was still going to perform as planned.
“As of today, the show must go on,” Sandiaga said as reported by kompas.com, in response to a protest rally last week.
Sandiaga also said that they would cooperate with the police to ensure the concert ran smoothly, safely and was enjoyable.
Almost 100 demonstrators marched through the capital and protested in front of the United Kingdom Embassy in Jakarta on Friday. Calling themselves “The National Anti-LGBT Movement”, they condemned the UK band’s vocal support for the LGBTQ community.
“Don’t let the show continue, [or] Muslims and the people will be angered, and we’ll all bring petrol to burn the Coldplay stage together,” one of the protesters said in front of the embassy on Friday, as quoted by detik.com.
Coldplay’s tours are renowned for incorporating the band’s personal values, from environmental to human rights issues. Frontman Chris Martin has often donned the rainbow flag onstage to represent the band’s support for the LGBTQ community.
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