THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The controversial pop star Lady Gaga thumbed her nose at Muslim-majority Malaysia's conservative culture and urged its young people to fight the censorship of her hit song promoting acceptance of gays.She said youth in Malaysia – where homosexuality is taboo and sodomy illegal – must peacefully protest the crackdown against her song "Born This Way" if they wanted to be free in their own society.
The largest group of non-government radio stations has been rendering song's line "No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian or transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby" unintelligible by garbling the lyric.
Pop acts from the West regularly fall foul of the authorities or conservative Islamic groups in Malaysia. Numerous concerts have been cancelled, dramatically toned down or the promoters fined afterwards for contravening laws governing modesty.
But the outspoken Lady Gaga refused to hold her tongue when asked about the Malaysian censorship when she visited the headquarters of Google, in Mountain View, California.
"What I would say is for all the young people in Malaysia that want those words to be played on the radio, it is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard," she said in an interview posted on YouTube. » | Ian MacKinnon, Bangkok | Thursday, March 24, 2011
