Hundreds of Muslims protested the Coldplay concert in Indonesia, claiming that the band are LGBTQ “propagandists.”
An estimated 300-500 people participated in the protest at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta on Wednesday after calls for the concert to be cancelled failed.
Over 70,000 people attended the concert, the band’s only stop in Indonesia during their “Music of the Spheres World Tour.” It had sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.
coldplay in jakarta#coldplayjakarta pic.twitter.com/8gUkr309zx
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Protesters were from several different Muslim groups, including one that calls itself the “anti-LGBT movement.”
Anti-LGBTQ groups protest Coldplay’s first Indonesia gig – Society – The Jakarta Post https://t.co/upVAp94gAp
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Agence France-Presse reports:
Many of them were part of a group that calls itself the “anti-LGBT movement” and when confronted by police, protesters started to push and clash with officers.
They booed at concertgoers arriving at the stadium and shouted accusations that they were LGBTQ supporters, according to local media reports.
Some carried banners accusing Coldplay of “LGBT propaganda” and damaging the country’s “faith and morals”.
Homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, except in the very conservative and Islamic Aceh province.
The concert was also criticized by Anwar Abbas, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Indonesia’s Islamic regulatory body.
“We know that Coldplay supports LGBT, but now the question is, is the LGBT behaviour in line with… our constitution?” he said in a statement on Wednesday, according to the AFP report. “There are six religions recognised in this country, and not one of them allows and tolerates LGBT practice.”
Over 4,000 police officers were deployed to keep the peace at the concert.
The band did not comment on the protest.
