‘Go and die’: Malaysian rock band stand by anti-LGBT lyrics despite accusations of homophobia
- Bunkface’s song The End of Times attacks the LGBT community in Malaysia. In a statement, the band defended their rejection of any rights for LGBT Muslims
- They quoted a verse from Islam’s holy book, The Koran, and described the LGBT community as ‘sinful’
Malaysian rock band Bunkface have defended their new song, Akhir Zaman (“The End of Times”), which has caused controversy over lyrics that urge the LGBT community to “go and die”.
Apart from one line that targeted the gay community – “LGBT boleh pergi mampus” (“LGBT can go and die”) – it also contains lyrics highlighting official corruption in Malaysia such as “mana semua duit rakyat?” (“where is the peoples’ money?”).
After an uproar in Malaysia’s LGBT community, the band’s management said the band would address the matter at a live show on April 4. But as criticism of the band intensified, Bunkface released a statement on their Instagram account on March 6 to explain why they wrote the lyrics.
The press release, written in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, defended the anti-LGBT lyric. It said the band were not targeting specific individuals but criticising the growing Muslim LGBT movement in Malaysia. In the statement, they indicated their rejection of any rights for LGBT Muslims.
Referring to the Malay Muslim LGBT community as a whole, Bunkface quoted a verse from the Koran and described the LGBT community as haraam (sinful). “What has been set as haraam will always remain haraam,” the band said in their press release.
Coronavirus forces Hong Kong indie club Hidden Agenda to close
Malaysian LGBT rights activist Numan Afifi took to Twitter the day the anti-LGBT song was released to encourage his followers to report the video on YouTube.
While the attempt was successful and the original video for Akhir Zaman was taken down for violations of hate speech rules, others have uploaded the track to the video site and the song is still available to be streamed on Spotify.
Bunkface, a pop-punk band from Klang, Malaysia, initially rose to fame through a reality TV show in 2006. They have released hits in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, and are known for songs such as Silly Lily, Situasi and Prom Queen. The band have performed regularly at live shows and festivals in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The release of Akhir Zaman comes amid a rise in hate speech and violence against the LGBT community in Malaysia, where homosexuality is widely considered taboo. Last year the country saw a string of murders of trans women, while five men were jailed and caned for gay sex crimes.
LGBT people face a range of legal challenges in Malaysia. Sodomy is a crime in the country, and social attitudes towards the LGBT community have long been shaped by Islam, the official state religion of Malaysia.
Human Rights Watch has said that “discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people is pervasive in Malaysia”.
After Bunkface issued their press release, internet users accused the band of failing to consider how the song would affect the LGBT community in Malaysia. Many took to social media to express anger over the band’s stance and said it was wrong that Bunkface used Islam to justify the incitement of hate towards the LGBT community.
Malaysian band Shh… Diam! also spoke out about the issue. Without directly referring to Bunkface, the band put out a statement on Instagram stating that any songs that spread hate might lead to bullying and hate crimes.
However, many Bunkface fans have continued to show support for the band. One fan even re-uploaded the song on YouTube with the caption: “You can put down the video, but you can’t put down our voice. Here we are, standing firm behind Bunkface.”
Another fan tweeted that he recognised that the song crossed the line from freedom of speech into hate speech, but continued to stand behind the band and declared his own hatred of the LGBT community.
The uproar over Akhir Zaman shows the divide between the LGBT community, their allies and their opponents is only growing wider in Malaysia. The question is where the country goes from here.
