International pop star who has met protests from Christians and Muslims during Asian tour speaks out during Manilla concert
Lady Gaga’s Asian tour has been met with religious protests in Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. At last night’s concert in Manilla she finally aired her views.
‘So many people have been protesting and it really doesn’t bother me truly because I know that there has to be change,’ she said at the concert while playing a keyboard on a motorbike, MTV Newsroom reports.
‘But for all those kids all over the world that take their lives when they’re so young because they feel bullied or they’re afraid because they’re gay and they don’t want to tell anybody, don’t you think that some of us should stand up and say the goddamn truth?
‘It’s not about my clothes, it’s not about having a hit record, it’s the fucking goddamn truth that people in the world need to be free of who they are and be proud and feel valuable no matter where they are.’
Lady Gaga’s concert in Jakarta on 3 June is in danger of being cancelled, after Islamic groups said ‘she is promoting the worship of satan’ and her concert is ‘intended to destroy the nation’s morality’ and threatened violent protests.
The police have not issued a permit for the concert to go ahead, but the tour’s promoter is optimistic.
In a tweet yesterday, Lady Gaga said: ‘The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence’.
The Lady Gaga Born This Way Ball heads to the relative safety of Thailand next, performing in Bangkok on Friday (25 May), before three dates in Singapore (28, 29, 31 May) and, if the concert goes ahead, hitting Jakarta on 3 June.
See video of Lady Gaga addressing protests last night:(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWGQ6zvYQpQ&feature=player_embedded)
by Anna Leach
Source – Gay Star News
